Nobodies Divided
by StarLion
Summary: Axel and Roxas are sent to do recon in a new world but quickly become separated. Both see different sides of the same world, setting them on different sides of the divide, and potentially against each other...
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Yep, yet another story from me. As usual, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but you knew that already. Or at least so I'm guessing.

This one takes place during Roxas's time with the Organization, though after Castle Oblivion.  
>It's also told in three parts - the prologue here which sets the scene, followed by Axel's shorter side of the following story, and that in turn leads on to hearing Roxas's side of it.<p>

* * *

><p>Roxas rubbed the sleep from his eyes, yawned and saw to his morning routine, pausing only to glance up at their Kingdom Hearts out the window. He was probably late getting up, but it couldn't be helped.<br>After a knock at the door, he opened it, stared blearily at Axel for a moment, then said, "Oh, it's you," and let Axel into his room.  
>"Well that's nice"<br>"I only just got up, alright?"  
>"It shows. That's why I'm here, too – you're up really late. Saïx was wondering about you."<br>"I didn't get to sleep until late last night," he yawned back. "Xion couldn't sleep, and asked me to stick around until she dropped off."  
>"Oh really? Is that all you two got up to?"<br>"Of course it is. Anyway, what did Saïx want?"  
>"Off to another new world today, you and I. Don't know anything about it at all, and we've gotta remedy that."<br>"Intel," Roxas grumbled. "I hate intel missions. They're boring."  
>"At least they're easy," Axel pointed out. "You ready to go?"<br>"Would be if it wasn't for breakfast."  
>"Tough luck. We'll pick something up while there if we can. Come on."<br>Still muttering complaints about breakfast, Roxas followed Axel into the corridor.  
>"You know, you and Xion have been spending a lot of time together lately," Axel remarked one the way through."<br>"We're friends. That's what friends do in their free time, right?"  
>"Well, yeah, but the way you two are going, anyone would think there's more than just a friendship there."<br>"Nonsense. We just don't pay attention to the time, that's all."  
>"If you say so. Here we are, one totally unknown world. After you," Axel added, gesturing to the exit portal. "You get to take the first steps there."<br>"Some honour," Roxas snorted, crossing the threshold.  
>The other side appeared to be an urban setting – or it had been once. Many of the buildings were burnt out, in disrepair or badly damaged. Wrecks of cars lines the edges of the roads, some in the roads on their sides or even on the roof. Above the ruined local skyline to one side, there were massive skyscrapers reaching upwards, some displaying logos for some business or another, some having sold a part of the outside for some advertising. The mass of lights in the area counteracted the slight darkness of a late evening sky, some time after sunset.<br>Periodic sounds of gunfire echoed from the other side of them, along with an occasional cry or shout. Sirens punctuated this as they drifted in and out of hearing range all around them.  
>"Nice place," Axel remarked, taking in the sights.<br>"Says you. What does Saïx see in this place that makes it worth our time?"  
>"Who knows? We'll have a look around and see what we can turn up."<br>"Guess so. Is it just me, or do you get the feeling we're being watched?"  
>They shared a look, then glanced around.<br>"Nope, just you. Come on already."  
>Most of the surrounding areas were not much better than where they had appeared. There were no people around, at least not anywhere in sight. Roxas couldn't shake the feeling there was someone watching him, and kept an eye out for any sign of anyone hiding.<br>Axel put out one arm to silently warn him to stay back when a collection of rapid footsteps began to echo nearby. Moments later, a young boy in blue ran through the intersection ahead, laughing to himself. As he ran past, he fished out two small bags, dropping one on either side of the road. They burst open when they hit, spilling some kind of milky liquid over the ground.  
>Now more people, adults this time, started to come into view. Each of them were dressed in the same uniform, after a few moments identified as a police uniform. Some of them avoided the newly created puddles, but others didn't seem to notice – at first. After a few steps, their feet stuck fast. Some few of them continued the pursuit, but most stopped to try and help the stuck ones out.<br>"Wonder what that was about?" Roxas murmured.  
>"I'm guessing they think the kid did something, and the kid doesn't want to get caught," Axel replied. "Not really any of our business."<br>"Guess again," someone said behind them. Five more officers had somehow come up behind them. "You saw it happen," the first officer went on, then turned to Roxas. "And you, juvie... who knows what you've done. You look suspicious, and that's good enough for me. You're both under arrest."  
>"We haven't done anything," Roxas protested.<br>"Sure. That's what they all say," the officer replied as the remaining officers ganged up on them, two on each of them. "You know something, kid? If I had a buck for every time I heard one of you kids say that, I'd have been living the good life years ago."  
>Roxas glanced to Axel, but he shook his head. This was not a good time to be pulling out weapons on them. In moments, they were both cuffed and roughly pushed around a corner and into the back of a waiting van, the back of which was more like a cell in itself. There was another boy in here, older than the one they'd seen run past. He had a grey jacket on, left open to show a red shirt underneath with a lion's head on it. He short black hair and green eyes that seemed to see everything. Like them, he too was cuffed, though he didn't seem overly concerned by this or by their appearance.<br>The van lurched into life with a roar from the engine, shaking the vehicle slightly before it pulled away.  
>"What'd they nab you for?" the boy asked Roxas.<br>"Just because we'd seen someone go running past being chased," he answered. "How about you?"  
>"Me?" he gave a short laugh. "They've been after me for ages. Ever since I pranked their chief. Stuck him to his own chair, locked all the doors on his floor, then jimmied the locks so they had to break down the doors to get anywhere. Some people just don't have a sense of humour."<br>"Does seem a little unkind, you know," Axel remarked. The boy gave Axel a harsh glare, the faint smile that had been there replaced by it, then it seemed to pass and was gone again when he turned back to Roxas.  
>"What're you doing with him?" he asked.<br>"You could just ask me," Axel said, but was ignored.  
>"We were sent here together," Roxas answered. "It wasn't my choice to come here."<br>"Or go with him, I'll bet," the boy replied.  
>"He's still my friend," he said defensively.<br>"Really?" the boy was sceptical. "An adult?"  
>"What's wrong with that?"<br>"You're not from around here, are you? I bet you don't even know where you are."  
>"Right on both counts," Axel agreed.<br>"Welcome to King City then," the boy said with an ironic smile. "The supposed city of the future... for those that can afford it, or don't mind selling their souls to get it. The rest of us just have to try to make a living however we can. You'll find kids like you or I – or just in general – aren't looked on kindly by anyone here."  
>"Enough talking back there!" a voice snapped to them from the front. The boy rolled his eyes, but said no more.<br>Not long after, they reached their destination. Once the engine was shut off, the doors at the back were opened. There were now at least a dozen officers waiting for them.  
>"Get them out," one said. "Stick them in separate cells, we'll handle the admin later."<br>"Problem with that. We've only got one free cell."  
>"Then stick the kids in with the other juvie. It's not like they're going to be an real trouble. They're just kids."<br>"He wishes," the boy murmured to Roxas in passing with a sly wink as they were bundled out and shoved along.  
>The cell block they were taken to appeared to be full already. Each cell seemed to have two inmates, all of them adults. Some of them fought with each other, but the officers did nothing about it as they passed. Axel was put into the only free cell in the entire building.<br>"Why not put me with him?" he suggested, gesturing to Roxas. "After all, you arrested us together. Why not keep us together?"  
>"So you can plan to get out again together?" the prison warden asked. "No thanks. No one escapes from my jail. You can stay separated." he turned then to the remaining officers, and handed one a key. "Right at the far end," he told them, then they were moving again.<br>When they reached the end of the block, they came to a single cell, slightly larger than the rest that held a tall young man in a sleeveless white shirt and matching pants, kept up with a black belt. He appeared to be sulking about having been caught, but brightened when he saw the boy Roxas was still with.  
>One officer held the bars of the cell, waiting to open them while another watched the occupant warily. Another uncuffed the boy he'd been brought in with, who was shoved quickly into the cell so he couldn't try anything, then the same was repeated for Roxas.<br>"Play nice now kids," one officer told them, leering at them before he left. "We wouldn't want to have to do anything else to you..."  
>"What does he think we are, criminals?" the original occupant muttered.<br>"Hush, Rue," the other murmured. "You know what they think of us, no need to aggravate them."  
>Rue grunted assent, then said, "What are you doing here anyway? And who's he?"<br>"Dunno him, he got brought in with me. As for me... well, the Oracle said you were in a bit of a fix, and asked me to bust you out of here."  
>"And how do you plan to do that if you're stuck in here too, huh Tommy?"<br>Tommy shrugged, "Nothing simpler. I have concealed on me a little bug that's letting my boys know exactly where I am. When the time comes, they'll be on hand to get us out." He looked to Roxas and added, "You as well, if you want to come."  
>"But what about Axel?" Roxas protested. "I can't leave without him."<br>"Forget him," Rue replied. "If you're seen with an adult here, things won't go well for you."  
>"But he's my friend."<br>"Tough luck," Tommy told him. "You'll have to hope he can find his own way out. In these parts you're better off surviving with one of us than trying to reach him. Trust me, you won't be the first I've helped out on a whim like this."  
>"He's right," Rue added. "That's how I got mixed up with him."<br>"Mixed up?" Tommy objected. "If I hadn't happened along they would have shipped you off to a read-you camp in no time."  
>"Read-you?" Roxas asked, trying to keep up with them.<br>"Re-edu, short for Re-education camp. Also known as how to brainwash a kid. You don't wanna go there." Tommy looked him over, then gave Rue a questioning glance.  
>"Take him to see the Oracle?" Rue suggested. "He'd be able to tell you."<br>"You know what happened last time someone did that."  
>"I can't take him, Tommy. The others would never let me, not without someone vouching for him, and a lot of them are pretty sceptical of that anyway. You'll have to find someone else."<br>"You see anyone else here?"  
>"Least if you take it on, you'll be in prime place to decide if it's worth taking him to the Oracle."<br>Tommy sighed, then turned back to him.  
>"OK, here's the deal. Don't tell us your name, 'cause it'll only lead to trouble. You got two choices – go it alone, or come with us. Go by yourself and we won't help you – ever. Your friend is an adult, and will no doubt find it easier to deal with them, that means you'll have to as well. We won't help with that. Or you can come with us, which means playing by our rules, but getting our help. Since your friend means so much to you, we'll see what can be done about getting him back – but your main goal should either be survival, or getting back to where you came from."<br>"Not without Axel," Roxas insisted.  
>"Then you've gotta decide. Either way, you've got until my boys get us out of here to decide, after that... depends on what you choose."<p> 


	2. Axel's tale, part 1

Axel wasn't entirely happy about being arrested, but there had been little choice. Saïx's orders had been very specific – weapons only if absolutely necessary, and no dark corridors where anyone from this world would see.  
>To make matters worse, he and Roxas had been separated, with him put into a cell by himself. There were others in the other cells nearby, usually two to a cell, but he paid them no attention. He had to think of a way to get himself out of here, not to mention Roxas too.<br>He couldn't sleep, not while this was still on his mind. It was late now, the lights mostly turned off, and those that were on only giving a low light. Still enough that the other inmates nearby would undoubtedly see him form a corridor as soon as they heard the accompanying sound.  
>From the far end of the single corridor along which all cells were arranged, there was a series of metallic clinking sounds, followed by the loud whisper, "Be quiet with those!"<br>Axel tried to get a better view from the bars of his cell, but couldn't see far enough down the corridor. He settled nearby to watch and listen. After a time his ears grew accustomed to the faint sounds, and he began to pick up sounds.  
>Faint rustles, like those clothes would make. A few more metallic clinks, and a series of hushed whispers. Then everything was drowned out as the alarm went off, alerting officers to an inmate breaking out.<br>Roxas's voice cut through the alarm, calling his name. It was hard to tell what the kid was calling him for, he was locked in just the same...  
>Unless the break out was of the other kids that he'd been chucked in with.<br>Officers hurried past him and down toward the far end. One paused just before he went out of Axel's sight, talking into his radio.  
>"We have a break out," he informed whoever was listening. "Three juvies only. No idea how they got in or out again."<br>After a few moments, the radio squawked a voice back again, "Was the boy picked up earlier among them?"  
>"Affirmative. He's gone with them."<br>A few more moments passed. Then, "Have an escort form up and bring me the boy's companion. I'm taking him to see Akira."  
>The officer visibly paled, but confirmed he understood the order all the same.<br>Could the boy have been Roxas? And the companion him?  
>He feigned sleepfulness as the officers passed back, muttering among themselves.<br>"Probably that kid in black-"  
>"Are you kidding me? He wasn't even armed."<br>"How else could they have gotten out?"  
>"So what do you think, he just created some kind of portal and whisked them off to some other land?"<br>"Of course not, don't speak nonsense."  
>"It was the kid he came in with, mark my words. That little brat's been evading us for months, slipping past us every time we get close, and now suddenly we catch him?"<br>"You think it's suspicious?"  
>"Don't any of you?"<br>"He has a point. Any fish that can give us the slip so often wouldn't be caught that easily."  
>"Maybe he just got unlucky – or we got lucky."<br>"I don't buy it, not with the kid's record."  
>"That's why I think it's the one in the black coat – we've got nothing on him. And what about his friend?"<br>The voices began to fade, making them too indistinct to make out.  
>It sounded like he was right. Roxas had escaped, but without him? He was going to have to go hunting for him... once he got out of this cell.<br>"You," a voice said harshly with an accompanying prod in the side. "Get up. The Governor wants to see you."  
>He gave a yawn, stretched, then got back to his feet again.<br>"No time like the present, I guess. Gonna let me out, or is he coming here?"  
>"Don't get full of yourself, convict."<br>"I haven't been convicted of anything yet."  
>"Don't count on that," the officer muttered harshly, unlocking the cell. Several other offices formed up behind him. "No tricks," the first warned him, then led the way back out. A number of other inmates gave him envious or contemptuous glances. No doubt both were for his apparent early release.<br>Once outside the police station and back in the orange light of the streetlamps, he was guided into a black car with tinted windows hiding any occupants from view. He was directed, though unlike earlier not pushed, into the middle one.  
>"Ah, so at last you grace me with your presence," the occupant murmured as the door was closed. He sat opposite Axel, wearing a neat suit but no adornments, no jewellery, nothing at all. "I of course know of you, mister... Axel, isn't it?"<br>"That's me. You're this Governor they mentioned?"  
>"Me? Oh, no. I'm just his personal bodyguard... among many other things. No one sees Akira without first seeing me. But I can handle most of your dealings with Akira on his behalf."<br>"And who're you then?"  
>"My name is Tamayana," he answered as the car began to move. "Now, Axel... tell me, where are you from?"<br>"Can't discuss it. Orders, you understand."  
>"Quite. But you must understand that we cannot help you if we know nothing about you. You and your young friend appear on no records, no databases – as far as we are concerned, you do not exist."<br>"Figures. Just like always."  
>"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand..."<br>"Never mind. Point is, I'm not from around here. That's about all I can tell you."  
>"I see. Then at least tell me what your business in King City is."<br>"Routine recon," Axel replied. It wasn't detailed, but it was about as much as he dared tell him. "Just learning the lay of the land."  
>"Why not just ask?"<br>"Orders again. Don't get involved unless necessary. You've kinda made most of that irrelevant by arresting us, but that doesn't mean I can just ignore the rest."  
>"Indeed. Now, about your friend..."<br>"Roxas. What happened to him?"  
>"I believe he's been taken by some of the streetgangs of children that plague our city. What they want with him is anybody's guess, but if he tells them about you, you can expect them to be sending demands your way."<br>"You're telling me a bunch of kids are probably holding him hostage?"  
>"These are not ordinary children, Axel. They are extraordinarily organized, or at least appear to be. They rebel against us because they do not fully understand why we did or are doing what we have done, without bothering to try to learn, and so anyone who comes here is a target to be used against us. We don't know what they want, but we cannot allow the city to be ruled by them. Children would only make a mess of things without the proper understanding."<br>"But he's still a hostage?" Axel persisted.  
>"Most likely, though it is probable they have led him to believe otherwise. It may become impossible to retrieve him if they tell him the same kind of lies they have others in the past. He may become... radicalised. One of them."<br>Surely Roxas would have better sense than that. He wouldn't get involved that easily would he? Then again, he was Sora's Nobody... and Roxas was sometimes more unpredictable than Sora had been, let alone Xion.  
>"Can you help me get him back?"<br>"But of course, Axel. You need merely work with us, and we will do everything within our power to find him and bring him back to you before they brainwash him."

Akira had turned out to be similar to Tamayana, but was shorter, thinner, and wore white instead of black. Like Tamayana though, he'd forgone affectations.  
>They'd discussed the situation briefly, with Akira confirming what Tamayana had told him already, then he'd given Axel a room to stay in while here in King City.<br>The room was a massive suite that took up most of one floor of the skyscraper that was both Akira's business and home at the same time, giving an immense view of the city. It was clear that much of the southern part of the city was ruined, apparently under the control of these streetgangs Tamayana had told him about.  
>They were formed mostly from youngsters, and were unusually organized – while they often appeared to have their own internal spats between them, they cooperated when it came down to it. They caused havoc in the town, thieving and stealing, often from people who didn't have much to begin with Axel was told.<br>Some very few of them had been persuaded to change allegiances, and the kind of things they told their new allies often just made things sound worse. These streetgangs were no good, there was no doubting it. And now Roxas was among them... and there was no telling what they'd be doing to him, or the lies they might be telling him that would make him one of them.  
>Many parts of the rest of the town had their sympathies both for and against the streetgangs and something they called 'the machine'. No one would talk about either in much detail.<br>Two days later, they were no closer to getting anything on Roxas than they had been when they'd begun. Despite not having a heart of his own, Axel was starting to get impatient and irritated. Saïx would be wondering what had befallen them and no doubt about it, but it was unlikely he'd spare anyone long enough to find out what they were doing.  
>Saïx proved him wrong by appearing in Axel's room.<br>"Still here?" he asked bluntly.  
>"We ran into some trouble," Axel replied laconically. "Roxas and I got arrested, then he got nicked by some streetgangs. Now I'm cleared, I'm working with them to try and find him to get him back."<br>"Don't take too long. Xemnas is starting to wonder what you two are up to."  
>"Tell him then," he shrugged. "At least then he'll understand."<br>"Speed things up, Axel."  
>"Do you see anything I can do? No? I thought not."<br>"Do whatever you need to. Ignore the original mission restrictions if you have to, but bring Roxas back. Xion can only cover for him for so long. We need both of them on the job."  
>"Yeah, alright. I get the idea. You'd better leave before anyone here discovers you."<br>Saïx nodded, then departed the same way he'd come. Not a moment too soon; Tamayana hurried into the room just moments later, carrying something under one arm.  
>"Axel!" he called, joining him. "We've got something!"<br>"At last. What's..." he trailed off. Tamayana had let the bundle under his arm unfold, flipping a pair of black gloves and shoes to the floor as the matching coat hung from his arm. Roxas's coat.  
>"We think we've got a sighting of him in not far from the University," Tamayana went on. "But we'll have to hurry if we're going to catch him. We've got some men already forming up to get there-"<br>"But you just need me. Leave those here and lead the way then. Let's get Roxas back."


	3. Axel's tale, part 2

The verdant lawns of the University campus appeared to be endless but for the scattered buildings of the University itself. It was a far cry from the build up urban areas of the city, or the ruined so-called 'combat-zone' that was apparently under the control of the streetgangs.  
>Axel and Tamayana led their small gathering of policemen over the lawns and between two buildings, emerging into another lawn that was surrounded by buildings, arranged into a square. In the middle, three kids were talking among themselves, two seated on a bench each, listening to the third stood nearby. Axel recognised one of them as the kid he and Roxas had been taken in with, looking exactly as he had done in that first meeting. With him was a blond haired kid in a white jacket with a matching shirt camo-print pants, who if not for the genuine laughter he seemed to be sharing with the others could have been Roxas. The third appeared to be much younger than either of them, and was also familiar. He wore all blue, and had even dyed his hair a dark blue.<br>They skirted the edge of the park, feigning a lack of interest in the trio.  
>"Is that him?" Tamayana murmured to Axel as they went around.<br>"Could be, but..."  
>"But?" he prompted.<br>"Doesn't seem like Roxas to laugh, not like that. His is usually... it doesn't sound right," he finished lamely. He could hardly tell these people about their being Nobodies. They wouldn't understand.  
>"Perhaps it's worth questioning him? If he isn't, then he may be able to direct us to Roxas."<br>Axel nodded, "But I think it might be better if just the two of us went. We don't want to scare them off."  
>Tamayana nodded assent, making a curt gesture to the officers following them as they turned to cut across the lawns.<br>"I'll leave the talking to you," he told Axel.  
>The youngest of the boys spotted them first, nodding toward them saying, "Heads up. Zombies on the lurch." He looked Axel over, then winked to the other boys and added, "I'm out," as he turned and left.<br>Now both of the others glanced over at him. For a moment, Axel thought he spotted recognition in the expression of the blond haired one, but if it had been there it had been too fleeting to confirm.  
>The one who'd been brought in with him and Roxas earlier spoke first.<br>"Gentlemen," he murmured with an ironic smile. "Is there something we can do for you?"  
>"I'm looking for Roxas," Axel told him. "You got brought in with him earlier. What happened to him?"<br>"I couldn't say," he replied with a completely straight face. "After we ah... discovered a way out, we all went our separate ways."  
>"Which was did he go?"<br>He turned to his friend on the bench. "You saw, didn't you?"  
>"Sure did," he replied. The voice sounded like Roxas's but lacked the usual monotone he usually spoke with except when angered. It sounded more like the voice of a real kid, with a real heart. While Axel wondered over this, the boy went on, "Went down south into the combat-zone. Said he had to find some Axel guy."<br>"That's me," Axel said. "If you see him, will you tell him I'm looking?"  
>"What's in it for me?"<br>"Now, Rocky," the first chided. "You know we don't do that."  
>"I ain't doin' it for nothing, not for some bigger," he replied. "Not after what happened the last time one of 'em tried. You know what happened then, Tommy."<br>"I remember. But that was one incident. Surely you can give them a second chance?"  
>Rocky eyed Axel and the looming Tamayana, then shook his head.<br>"Don't like the look of 'em. The big one's got copper written all over him, and I ain't trusting a copper. As for you..." he looked back to Axel appraisingly. "Anyone what goes around in something like that is just asking for trouble."  
>"Looks like that's it then, mister Axel," Tommy said. "You heard it right from him. Incidentally, your friends just fell foul of our trap," he added without a change in expression.<br>As they both turned to look, Axel felt something get slapped on his back as Rocky's voice said, "Tag!"  
>"You're it!" Tommy added, slapping something similar onto Tamayana's back, then they both fled. Moments later, they were pelted by a barrage of paintballs from the rooftops that ceased only when they managed to get to the relative safety of the other side of the buildings, where they met up with the others who'd come with them, each bearing signs of having paint tipped over them.<br>"I hate dealing with kids," one of them muttered. "Did you really have to bring us?" he asked Tamayana acidly.  
>"It wasn't my choice," he answered. "Akira insisted. Axel?"<br>"It could have been him, but I don't know. He didn't sound anything like the Roxas I knew, but... his name and look, they're so similar..."  
>"Perhaps he's been with them too long already. They may have integrated him into their gang as one of them, and in the process he's just become exactly like them."<br>"I don't know..." Axel replied dubiously. "It doesn't sound like Roxas to do something like that. Not if these streetgangs are all you make them out to be."  
>"Believe me, we don't exaggerate things. If anything, we underestimate them time and again. Things are sometimes much worse than this."<br>"Ya think?" a little voice said. They looked down to see the youngest of the boys they'd seen, bouncing a ball in one hand. "Gotta message for you," he said to Tamayana. "The Oracle says you gotta tell Akira this, word for word. 'Come out of the tower and play with the Alliance, unless you're too afraid I'll be lurking around the next corner after what you did to my brother'. Got it?" Tamayana paled, but nodded. "Good. I'm outta here."  
>"You alright boss?" one of the others asked curiously.<br>"Akira's going to go ballistic when he hears that," Tamayana muttered. "The kid they call the Oracle is the only one to continually keep besting him and everything he throws at him. He hates even hearing the word Oracle, let alone the kid's name."  
>"Don't tell him?" Axel suggested.<br>"If Akira hears that I was given a message and didn't give it to him, he'd be even worse."

From his vantage in Akira's skyscraper, Axel looked out over the city as if he could see his friend from here and just pluck him out of it from far below.  
>He'd stopped by the castle to pick up a clean coat after the paintball shower the kids had dropped on him, then returned only to find the trio had disappeared. If it had been Roxas with them, he clearly didn't want to be found.<br>To make matters worse, on the day after, Xemnas himself had paid a call on him to see the situation for himself. He had not been happy about losing Roxas, and even less so when he had heard what had befallen him. He'd departed saying only that he would make arrangements that would arrive by the end of the week.  
>Now it was the end of the week, and there seemed to be no difference. It was barely midday though, still time left.<br>"Axel," Xion's voice said, closely followed by her own corridor bringing her into his room. "Saïx said I'd find you here. Did you find anything new?"  
>"No," he replied gloomily. "Either he's one of them now, or they've done something to him. What're you doing here?"<br>"Orders," she answered, joining him at the windows. "Xemnas thinks that the kids will be more willing to work with someone younger, like me."  
>"He's probably right. I'll go with you."<br>"No," Xion replied firmly. "You come along and they won't talk to me. I read up on the situation before I came; they won't listen if they think I'm in league with adults. I have to do this myself."  
>"You don't know the place, Xion," Axel protested.<br>"I don't need to. They'll work with me if I'm alone, and I can get their help – better than you can. Trust me, Axel. I'll find Roxas for you."  
>"Come back safely, Xion – I don't want to have to look for you too."<br>"Trust me," she repeated, then opened another corridor. Probably down into the city itself.  
>Axel looked to one corner of the room where Roxas's coat hung.<br>"Where are you, Roxas? What have you been doing?"

Four hours later, there was a call from Tamayana for Axel to join him. He was wordlessly taken into the city, not far from the combat-zone, and then left. Xion waited for him outside one building, a small two-story structure that looked like it had seen better days. It had once been a Chinese take away, but graffiti sprayed over the decrepit old sign had rebranded it from the Golden Lion's Chinese to the Golden Lion's HQ.  
>"Brace yourself, Axel," Xion warned as he approached. "This isn't going to be what you're expecting."<br>"Is Roxas..."  
>"Probably inside. I thought you'd want to come with me to see him if it is him. I've managed to persuade them to let you in, but you'll have to watch what you say. They don't trust you much." She gave a short laugh then added, "They don't even trust me much, but apparently one of their people reckons we can be trusted just enough for this. Come on."<br>Axel nodded weakly, following her inside. Behind the counter sat a kid who watched them both warily, with another just peeking up at the from behind it.  
>"This the one?" he asked Xion, who nodded. He turned to the one beside and murmured, "Tell the boss they're here. Same one what Rocky saw."<br>The second kid nodded, then headed up some stairs nearby.  
>"Thanks for letting me bring him," Xion said.<br>"Don't thank me. Rocky's the one you wanna thank. He persuaded the boss to relent. Personally I think it's a mistake, letting someone like him in here... but if Tommy says he trusts Rocky... that's good enough for me."  
>"What do you mean, you got seen?" a voice shouted from above.<br>"Sounds like Andy's in trouble again," the boy at the desk remarked, rolling his eyes. "Third time this week."  
>"What did he do?"<br>"Dunno, this time. First time he almost got himself nicked by the fuzz, last time was by another gang. He should know better'n to stray into their territory without an excuse."  
>"You stole what?" the voice came from above incredulously.<br>"Or to do that," the boy added as an afterthought.  
>The other one popped his head around a door. "Boss says to send 'em up and tell 'em they just gotta wait for him to finish up with Andy."<br>"We heard," Xion said. "Which way?"  
>"Under the counter, then follow me," he answered.<br>They were led behind what had been the old shop front, through a kitchen and to an open upstairs room. Axel recognised all three occupants – Andy was the one he'd seen running on the first day they'd been here, Tommy was the one he and Roxas had been arrested with, and Rocky... still looked suspiciously Roxas-like. Their attention was still on Andy, who seemed almost to be squirming.  
>"I did get us some nice stuff outta it," he insisted. "You gotta admit that."<br>"Yeah, but stealing off them..." Tommy trailed off, then continued, "Do you have any idea what I'm going to have to say to them to smooth this over?"  
>"Uh, well, about that..."<br>"What now?" It came out flatly.  
>"N-nothing to do with me... y'know I said it was kinda Rocky what caught me?" Tommy nodded. "Well, he kinda smoothed it over for ya while he was at it."<br>"Rocky?"  
>Rocky nodded, "Told them what'd happened, returned their stuff, and what Andy had made selling it back to them. Weren't none to happy about it, but I gottem to let us off this time. We got warned that we're not to go into their territory unless we can explain ourselves in advance now though."<br>Tommy sighed, "I guess it was inevitable. The Oracle did warn me something would do it. Go on, Andy – just stay out of trouble this time."  
>"You got it, boss," Andy replied, then ducked past Axel and down the stairs.<br>"Sometimes I wonder about that kid," Tommy murmured.  
>"He's got best interests at heart," Rocky pointed out. "And you've got guests."<br>Tommy appeared to notice them at last.  
>"Ah... we meet again, Axel. I know of you," he added to Xion. "I've been told quite a bit about you."<br>"We want to see Roxas," Xion told him. "I went to see your Oracle. He was the one who told me to come here."  
>"I know. The Oracle told me already. The question is, does Roxas want to see you?"<br>"You knew where he was, didn't you?" Axel demanded. "When I saw you the second time."  
>"Yes," Tommy replied unconcerned. "But he didn't want you to find him at the time."<br>"Why not?"  
>"That's something you gotta ask him," Rocky answered for Tommy.<br>Xion looked at Rocky curiously, then managed, "You... you're..."  
>Rocky winked at her, grinned and said, "I guess I can't hide it any more. I was wondering how long it'd take before you actually found me out."<br>"Roxas?" Axel asked, not quite believing it.  
>"Nice to see you too, Axel. I was sorta hoping you'd catch on a bit quicker."<br>"What have you been doing? Why didn't you come looking for me?"  
>Roxas's grin fell slightly. "Ever since you got back from Castle Oblivion, you've been distant. Not really talking to me like you used to. I used this chance to find out if you're still really my friend. To see how quickly you'd give up, or how determined you were to find me. Its taken you long enough to get here."<br>"But what have you been doing?" Xion persisted.  
>"Well..." he looked to Tommy, who nodded.<br>"You know my view on it Roxas," he murmured.  
>"I know," Roxas answered. "Alright. I'll tell you..."<p> 


	4. Roxas's tale, part 1

After we got taken in, I was left with the two kids, Rue and Tommy. Axel never met Rue though.  
>Rue's a big guy, looks older than he is. He's also a pacifist, but don't let his outside appearance fool you – he's a damn good ally to have in a fight. There isn't a single kind of martial art he doesn't know something about. Never once draws a weapon, but the way he fights...<br>Anyway, they filled me in on the situation here in King City. There are two sides – on one hand, you've got the so-called Machine, or the Corporate Confederation that rules the city with an iron fist. Consume, obey, and above all, don't think. You exist only to give your money to the Corporations, to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer. Which is everyone except them.  
>And then you've got what's loosely called the Alliance. The disillusioned kids of the city who hear stories of the greenery and the other life that used to exist, before birds became extinct here and before the only animals in the city were just pets, no matter how exotic.<br>They're not unruly for anything. They're rebelling because it's all they can do. The ruling party has to be seen to do something, and that gets them recognition. All they want is the chance to go back to what they never got the chance to see. Them and the few adults they trust enough to work with them. Very few, in case you're wondering.  
>The main problem they have is that they lack the tools, the infrastructure and resources, to actually achieve anything significant. But they're determined, and they aren't going to give up without a fight.<br>I was insistent that I wasn't going to leave without Axel. Tommy was going to get the three of us out of the cell we were in, and he promised to break me out with them. But he also gave me a hard choice, something I'd have to come to terms with before we were out: Lose the support of him and the rest of the Alliance and search for Axel alone, knowing full well that as a kid myself, few adults in King City would trust me. Not an easy option.  
>Or I could go with him and survive. I'd have to play by their rules, help them out and in return they'd try to find a way to retrieve Axel from the Machine's hands. The biggest problem with this was that it distanced me from Axel, and it was entirely possible that I'd never see him again. The Alliance would help me as long as I abided by their Code despite Axel's adulthood, but they would only go so far – they would not endanger themselves if it could be avoided, and they would expect me to respect that and avoid anything that went that way.<br>Given that I had no knowledge at all of this world, their rules or what I might have to do, I went with the option that at least guaranteed me survival, if not information – recon was still the order of the day, after all.  
>I didn't make that choice right away though. It plagued me for the rest of their day, even after me and Rue settled into a wary doze for the night. Or as much as you can in a cell, anyway. Rue had calmly advised me that sleep was trouble, and a light doze was far healthier no matter which way I went.<br>I don't know exactly what the time was when Tommy shook us awake. It was very late, possible the early hours of the next morning actually. It took me a few moments to see clearly in the low light.  
>There were two new kids at the bars of the cell. I couldn't make out many details, but I could tell one of them was fumbling with something at the lock, making faint clinking sounds.<br>"Be quiet with those!" Tommy snapped in a whisper that he probably intended to be quieter. "Get Rue up," he added to me. I shook him a little more roughly than he had, then quickly held a hand over his mouth to stop him making any sound. He nodded understanding why I'd done it, knowing I hadn't meant any offence.  
>"They've changed the locks on this thing," the one at the lock muttered irritably.<br>"How long?" Tommy asked tensely.  
>"A few more moments. Shut up so I can concentrate."<br>There were a few more clinks, then a clunk that sounded awfully loud in the silence. The cell was tugged, but still didn't budge.  
>"If you don't get this open..." Tommy threatened quietly.<br>"Hush," the other kid murmured. He had some kind of device attached to the electronics beside the cell and was working away furiously. "Almost got it."  
>The lock clunked again, then the cell door was quietly pushed open.<br>"Come on," the first kid urged, gesturing for us to follow. I went with them, at this point mostly because I reasoned if I stayed behind I'd still be in trouble.  
>"Sure about him, boss?" the second kid asked sceptically as we hurried down a side corridor and into a storeroom.<br>"This is not the time for that!" Tommy whispered insistently. "Hurry up now!"  
>A part of the carpeting was lifted up to reveal a trapdoor with some steep stairs underneath. Rue went first, closely followed by the first of the two kids. An alarm went off.<br>"Gotta move quick now boss," the second said, not bothering to keep it quiet. "I scrambled the other locks, but it won't last long."  
>"Gotcha. You next, kid," he added to me, and I was guided down to the stairs. There were no handholds, so I was forced to push against the walls to keep my balance – at least until I discovered the walls weren't stable enough to support the kind of pressure I had to use, and so I had to hurry down and hope I didn't fall.<br>The second kid came down after me closely followed by Tommy, who closed the trapdoor. I assume the carpeting was set back in place somehow, since none of us remained behind.  
>"Don't hesitate," the kid behind me said. "Gotta keep moving, and quickly. Don't wanna get caught, right?"<br>"Uh... no, I guess not," I answered non-committally. I wasn't yet set on which way I wanted to go.  
>As we progressed down that narrow corridor, Tommy went along tapping small square panels set in the walls at regular intervals. After he passed each of them, a new wall barred access back the way we had come.<br>"Soundproofing," he explained laconically. "That, and each of them has some steel in if we could scrounge enough. Not all of them, but enough that if they try to shoot through, they'll have to be practically on top of us to get to us."  
>We turned a corner, setting another wall in place behind us. Tommy told me there was a false tunnel that continued straight on, and would lead them to the sewers. Unless they brought sniffer dogs down here, it was unlikely they'd discover this one, which I soon discovered exited into the basement of a warehouse that was undoubtedly busy during the day.<br>Rue gave his thanks to Tommy, then sneaked out on his own, leaving me with Tommy and the two kids.  
>"This is it, kid," he said to me. "Which way will you go?"<br>I thought hard and quick. No doubt they wouldn't stick around for long, not based on what I'd heard from him. I knew I'd be taking a risk, trusting he hadn't lied to me, let alone trusting him with my survival, but I decided – better to survive with allies, if not friends, than go it alone in an unfamiliar world.  
>"I'm with you," I told him.<br>Tommy nodded, "You already know me. The little guy in red is Sparky." That was the kid that had been working on the electronic half of the cell's lock. He had brown hair that stuck out, as if he'd plugged himself into the mains power one too many times. "And this one in white is Whisper."  
>"On account of my nimble fingers'n quiet like moves," Whisper added. He had white hair to match his outfit. They matched Tommy's own clothes; a jacket, shirt with a lion's head on, pants that were deceptively thicker than they looked so they could stand up to the rough and tumble of the urban jungle, and well-insulated sneakers. Unlike Tommy, their ones were all various shades of one colour, where Tommy elected for differing colours. Grey jacket worn almost shiny in places, an old red shirt with the same lion's head logo, and winter-print camo pants. Why he went for the winter-print ones I've no idea.<br>"I'm Roxas," I introduced myself, but Tommy shook his head.  
>"Better that we all forget that name. None of us use our real names – too risky, makes us too easy to track down." He gave me a speculative look, then said, "How do you feel about Rocky?"<br>"Rocky? I... guess I can go with it."  
>"Welcome to the gang then, Rocky. Sparky and Whisper here are your new little brothers, and I'm the father who runs things. Just don't ever call me dad."<br>"That's unless you wanna get in trouble," Sparky added. "You're one of the boys now, Rocky. Gotta admit though... you're gonna stick out like that. Best get him some new duds, boss."  
>"Whisper – is your friend in West side Mall still in business?" Tommy asked.<br>"Naturally," Whisper answered. "He owes me a few still. You got something on under that coat, Rocky?" he asked me then. Of course I always do, it just isn't easily apparent. I understood why he asked though, opening it so he could see. "Got it. I can make a few guesses for your sizes."  
>"Meet us up at the Tea Shack," Tommy told him. Whisper nodded then slipped out.<br>"If ya don't mind, I'm gonna go pay a call on Allie," Sparky said then. "Got a bit of loot I wanna trade."  
>"Loot? What have you been up to?"<br>"Nuthin'" he replied sulkily. You can see where I picked up the bad speaking habits from. Still, it made me blend in a bit better once I got the hang of them. "I just... found them."  
>"Found them where, Sparky?" Tommy persisted.<br>"They were just sorta lying around... in the back of a delivery truck..." Under Tommy's gaze he went on, "Outside the old Tech warehouse."  
>Tommy passed a hand wearily over his eyes. "Go on. If it weren't for Rocky, I'd do something about it, but he needs to learn a few things. You're off the hook... this time."<br>"Thanks boss," Sparky replied, then he too skipped out.  
>"They're terrible troublemakers, but I try and keep them in line. I used to be like them before I started trying to be more of a role model for them."<br>"And now I'm one of them," I added wryly.  
>"Sparky wasn't joking when he said you're one of the boys, Rocky. I look after all my boys. There were once more of us, but... recent run ins with the Machine lost us a few members."<br>"Let me guess. These Read-you camps?"  
>"Exactly. And one traitor, who'd better hope he never runs into any of us," he added darkly. "The Alliance doesn't like people who break the Code."<br>"What's this Code you keep talking about?" I asked as we slipped out into a somewhat fragrant alley. Trash has a habit of smelling, and in a city as big as King City, it gets everywhere.  
>"The rules we live by. First... your word is your bond, in whatever form given. You give it, and you keep it. Never, ever break it, and never give it if you can't keep it. Second, money ain't worth blood. Clean and simple, that one. And last... you never turn a fellow juvie into the Machine, or any adult. We look after those who look after us, but turn on even one of us just once..."<br>"And that's it. On my own."  
>"Exactly. It's a hard world here, but living by those rules has kept us alive and kept us safe for this long, that we're not going to turn on them easily."<br>Between their Code and their determination, I figured theirs was the best chance I had.


	5. Roxas's tale, part 2

Tommy guided me around the city toward the place he called the Tea Shack, keeping a close lookout all around in case anyone turned up. He answered questions I had, filled me in, and aside from ensuring we reached our destination he never once restricted where I went. It was my choice and my responsibility to take care of myself, at least once I'd gotten to grips with the situation.  
>"You've got to stay aware," he told me as we ducked into another back alley. Moments later, a patrol car drove past. "Narrow misses like that are fun, but risky. You never know when the fuzz will show up, let alone Corporate Security – they're the ones you <em>really<em> have to watch out for."  
>"What makes them so special?"<br>"Not exactly special," he laughed. "The cops uphold the law, depending on which corporation is paying the most in bribes at the time. Bribes aside, they're still on a civic-worker's pay, which isn't much, so their gear is hardly up to scratch. Still trouble, but not nearly as much as the zombies."  
>"Let me guess – Zombies are the corporates?"<br>"Exactly. You're picking up our street-slang quick. Corporate Security is more dangerous because whatever they need, they get. They don't answer to the law, only to their respective corporation. With a general policy of shoot first, and don't bother with questions... you really don't want to meet them. Let alone the tech they bring to the field..." he gave a shudder. "Bad news, to say the least."  
>The buildings around took on a different kind of appearance, many with odd symbols on them. I later knew this part of the city as Chinatown, home of the oriental take-away. Some of the food there isn't half bad, and they're one of the few places where people sympathise with us rather than against us.<br>On the way through, the little kid Axel and I had seen when we first arrived turned a corner to meet us.  
>"Take the other route," he told Tommy. "The Oracle says you'll get caught for sure this way, and you gotta stay out if you got him with ya."<br>"Thanks, Battery."  
>The kid snorted, "Thanks. I'm just doin' what I get told to. Go thank him if you really want."<br>"I wish he wouldn't take it so personally," Tommy muttered as Battery left again. He never did stick around for long.  
>"Sounded like it bothered him."<br>"Lets just say if it wasn't for the Oracle, he and his brother Assault would have turned on us years ago."  
>"Assault and Battery," I almost laughed. "Did they pick the names?"<br>"Naturally." Tommy looked back at me as we cut across a park area. He's much more perceptive than he looks. "You're not quite... don't take this the wrong way or nothing, but you don't seem... well, complete."  
>I hesitated – I trusted him, but could I tell him this? Would he understand? I took the risk. He was sort of like my family here now, if I couldn't tell him, who could I tell? Maybe he could use it to our advantage.<br>"It's because I'm really not complete," I answered. "It's kinda complicated, but I think I can explain it."  
>"Try me," he replied.<br>"Axel, me... all the others we work with, we're called Nobodies. Not because no one knows us or anything like that, but 'cause we don't have a heart."  
>"Guessing you don't mean the beating thing in your chest, right?"<br>"Actually, I remember hearing Vexen once before he was lost at Castle Oblivion. He said something about that being the heart too, and because we didn't have one the darkness did something to replace it."  
>"Interesting."<br>"Yeah, well, 'cause I don't got a heart, I can't really... feel anything. Sometimes I kinda wonder though... but I wouldn't be a Nobody if I had a heart." You can tell I was starting to sound like them already. In a way it's almost catching.  
>We walked on in silence for a time. I guess it was hard for him to accept it, so he was trying to imagine what it was like.<br>Eventually he said, "Just act."  
>"I'm sorry?"<br>"Act. Pretend. You've got me and the other boys around to pick it up from. If you're going to be one of us, you can't still be a Nobody. So you'll have to act just like us."  
>"Does that mean I gotta talk badly like what they do?" I asked. I couldn't help but grin as I said it, it's probably one of the worst sentences I ever came up with.<br>"A bit more than that," he answered, trying not to laugh himself. "Come on – we're here."  
>The Tea Shack turned out to be a small café, now closed down. The windows were boarded up, and most of the furniture inside had been removed. We ignored the downstairs though and headed up the back stairs to the second floor. Like below, it had mostly been cleaned out, but there were a few boxes around. Some were arranged to provide crude tables or shelves, others held what appeared to me at the time to be junk.<br>"This is it?" I asked, not quite believing it.  
>"This is it. One of the many homes we keep around the city. We don't stay in any one for more than a few days, and we don't keep to any kind of pattern."<br>"So no one can track you down. Don't they get watched or something?"  
>"You'd think so, but apparently they've never thought of that. Either that or they just haven't noticed which places we stay at yet. Anyway, like all of the others, there's rooms set aside for each of us, you as well. Like I said, we used to have more people, but... anyway, it's all a little basic, but when you practically live on the street like most of us, it's a luxury. Unless you're a Squat. They really do live on the streets, and they couldn't care less."<br>"Why?"  
>"I've never asked them, actually. They hear a great deal, and they scrounge up some incredible finds from time to time. You'd be amazed at what some people will throw out. Just don't ever ask them for a bite to eat – you're safer rustling up something yourself than trusting them to find something to eat."<br>He wasn't joking. Squats will eat practically anything, even right out of a bin. How they can do that is beyond me – I know I never could. I'd be afraid of getting something from it.

How long we stayed in the Tea Shack I don't know. Mostly I continued to pester him with questions so I could understand the way things were, what would happen and stuff like that. I objected a bit about having to pretty much regularly lie, cheat and steal my way through, but he bluntly pointed out that it was either that, or starve in more ways than one.  
>He started teaching me a few of the basic skills he thought I'd need to know – picking locks and pockets, the art of the con, stealing in plain sight, reading the streets and knowing the gang markings.<br>I was now a part of the Golden Lions gang, which is why all of us wear a shirt with a lion on it. Our neighbours while here at the Tea Shack were the Nuts and Bolts, who specialized in purloining, acquiring, upgrading, fixing and all manner of other technology related things, the Beaver Angels – think of them as medics that are in short supply of years, with the exception of Doctor Kildare – and the Megas. Everyone watched out for the Megas – out of all of the gangs in the Alliance, they fought with each other almost more than anyone else, but they loved a fight above all. They were good for distractions and smashing into enemy lines when there was no other choice. 'Lose' was not in their vocabulary, and neither was 'sense' either, from what I gather. Tommy told me he once saw one charge an armoured assault tank completely fearlessly without a care in the world. Poor devil had actually gone berserk though, so probably had no idea what he was actually doing.  
>My further learning was interrupted by Whisper getting back with Sparky in tow. Naturally, since Whisper had been the one sent to get my near gear, I got white. Except for the pants, for some reason he'd gotten camo print, like Tommy's but in green instead of white. The pants, like the inside of the jacket were covered in pockets. Never can have enough of them, doesn't matter how big or small, they're the stashes. Never keep anyone in the obvious places, always put it into the stash.<br>I went into a room across the hall to change so I could hear them and continue to talk if I needed to. With a change in my clothes and the company of what Sparky insisted was my two little brothers, I even felt more like one of them.  
>When night fell, Sparky took me up on top of the Tea Shack to keep watch for the night.<br>"So whatcha think of the big city, Rocky?" he asked me after a few moments in the chill night air.  
>"It's... different. Harsher. I'd have thought someone would have stood up to the corporations though."<br>"Those what did, either got bribed, arrested or shot. The zombies don't like people going against 'em. 'swhat happened to my folks. Got offered a job what worked with their skills, 'cept they didn't care none too good for it."  
>"Why not?"<br>"'cause it used actual people as guinea pigs – me included, 'cept I ran away from home soon as I heard that. When they refused to take it on them grounds, the corps went up as high as ten times the cash, but they still refused. So they got arrested and forced to do it..." he trailed off, then in a bitter tone went on, "As community service in repayment for their trumped up crimes. They don't got any morals the zombies. Just goals, and they don't let anyone get in the way."  
>"What will they do with Axel? My friend," I added, since only Tommy had actually heard anything about him.<br>"Dunno. He an adult?"  
>"Yeah. We were sent here together."<br>"Not by choice, I'm betting."  
>"Orders from Saïx. I don't think he cares too much where I get sent, as long as I do what he tells me to."<br>"What were ya meant to do here?"  
>"Recon. Don't know anything about the place, so Axel and I got shipped out to look around. Tommy said he'd try and help me get Axel back... I won't leave without him, he <em>is<em> my friend, adult or not."  
>"If the boss promised you that, then you can count on him," Sparky assured me. "Look sharp," he said then, dropping his voice. "Zombies on the lurch." Translation: Corporates nearby.<br>The Tea Shack's roof was shared with a number of other buildings nearby, so we kept a low profile, just peeking over the low ledge at the edge of the roof. We could see a part of Chinatown's park area from here, and once I figured out where Sparky was looking I spotted our 'zombies'.  
>There were six of them, all in suits. Two of them were scanning the area with flashlights, looking for something. The other four looked like shaved bears with some big guns.<br>"What are they looking for?" I whispered.  
>"Ask the wind," Sparky answered. In other words, it was anyone's guess. "Could be us. They've been trying to get their hands on Tommy for ages."<br>"Yeah, he told me when me'n Axel got brought in."  
>"Hush. They're coming this way."<br>We edged along the roof to get behind the massive lettering of the restaurant on the corner. It was lit up, and even from behind the letters it lit us up, but since Sparky showed no hesitation in looking out between an I and an L, I followed suit and looked out through the gap in the top half on an H.  
>Everything seemed to grow very loud while we waited in silence up there. Every slight rustle, even a clink of the jacket's zipper against the letter, it felt like there was a megaphone there amplifying everything. It was a nervous wait, watching them draw closer over the park, then off it and down the road the Tea Shack was on.<br>Sparky made a quick gesture at me to get down, and not a moment too soon. I flattened myself against the roof, looking upwards to see a bright light shine through the gaps in the letters.  
>"Coulda sworn I saw something up there," a voice came from below.<br>"We could shoot it up," another said. "Call it an accident like."  
>"You do and you can handle the paperwork," a third told him. "I'm not getting held back at the office if I don't have to. Sandra's already complaining at me for the night work."<br>"Haven't you worked that out with her yet?" the first asked.  
>"Sandra? Come on, you know what she's like. Wants me to be there to enjoy every last moment she's not draining my bank account. Told her that's why I'm doing this, so she can keep on having something to spend, but she just laughs it off as unnecessary."<br>Sparky got up into a crouch, peering down. I did the same, but he quickly gestured to stay down as he pulled a small blue sphere from inside his jacket.  
>"Laugh this one off," he muttered, twisting the top half, then standing up to lob it into the air. I followed it even taking the risk of being seen to watch it before it got out of sight. It looked like it was going to fall right in the middle of them. What was it meant to do?<br>It landed between them with a rattle.  
>"Smile for the birdie," Sparky whispered with a nasty grin, covering his eyes with his jacket. I figured it was probably best I did the same.<br>There was a surprisingly quiet detonation, and even with my eyes covered I could tell there was a blinding light, accompanied by screaming, shouting, cursing and general alarm and surprise.  
>Sparky rose up again, drawing out a short metal tube and a handful of darts. In moments, he'd used it as a blowpipe to catch all six of them.<br>"Quick," he murmured to me. "They'll be out cold soon. Then we can nick their stuff."  
>"What was in those darts?"<br>"Sedative. C'mon, we gotta hurry. Someone will have called the cops after hearing that, if not seeing it. We don't got long."  
>We took the stairs three at a time, jumping the last of them. Sparky leapt up onto the counter and out, I didn't trust myself to do the same and went the longer way while he fumbled in the darkness at the locked door.<br>Once outside, we could already hear sirens in the distance. That said, you can always hear sirens in King City, just these ones were a bit closer.  
>"What're we taking off them?" I asked quietly, in case one of the unconscious figures was still awake.<br>"Anything of interest. Reckon you can take on of them big guns?"  
>I tried, I really did. But the guns the four bigger ones had were massive, bigger than both my arms. I don't even know how they managed to lift them.<br>"No chance," I answered.  
>"Take these then," he said, tossing me a couple of smaller ones from the other two, then pocketing their wallets. With a few moments hesitation, I set one of the guns down and started did a quick thief's search of the two nearest bears – something Tommy had taught me. Pat the pockets down, anything that doesn't feel human, check. I turned up another two wallets, four rings and a tiny screwdriver.<br>"Sparky," I murmured, showing it to him. "What's he got this for?"  
>"Uh-oh," he murmured no louder than me. "What pocket didja find it in?"<br>"Right side, inside the suit," I answered, growing worried.  
>Sparky rolled up the left arm of the guy's suit. It looked like a normal hand and wrist until we got half way up the arm. It was as if the skin just broke off. Except it wasn't real skin – the arm underneath was metallic and shiny.<br>"Cybernetic arm," Sparky whispered, answering the forming question. "Gotta knife on ya?" I pulled one out. Tommy had given me two, on the off chance I needed to defend myself or something like that. "Cut off the arm of his suit, up at the shoulder," he directed me, already rolling it back down again. Once I'd done that, he tugged it and the fake skin off, revealing the whole arm to be the same right the way down, with several access panels. At the top there was some kind of clamp that held it on to the shoulder joint, which appeared to still be organic.  
>Sparky took the tiny screwdriver off me and began to rapidly work on parts of the joint.<br>"Sirens are getting closer," I told him, watching with growing anxiety. I didn't want to get caught again, not with the incriminating evidence of these guys around me.  
>"Just a bit more," Sparky replied, giving the arm a twist and a tug. It detached from the socket and the clamp. "That's it. We better get back in, sharp like."<br>I didn't need telling twice. We both pocketed three wallets each, then I picked up the rings and the two lighter guns. Sparky took the arm, leaving his other hand free to lock the door behind us when we got back inside the Tea Shack.  
>We stashed our ill-gotten gains in one of the boxes in what was the informal lounge, then quickly returned to the roof. We were meant to be keeping watch, after all.<br>It was clear even before we'd gotten to the edge of the roof that there was activity down there forcing us to take refuge behind the signs again. We chose a different sign this time, to be safe.  
>There were two patrol cars and a police van on the scene when we warily looked down. The officers had cordoned off one end of the street, and stood barring the path for the other end, standing aside only for an ambulance to come through. Once the paramedics were seeing to the six Sparky had so casually downed, the remaining officers started searching the nearby buildings, knocking on doors and asking questions.<br>"Won't they find your bomb thing?" I asked Sparky.  
>"That's the beauty of it. My mate designed it so there's nothing left when it goes off. Makes 'em a li'l hard to make, but well worth it."<br>"What about the arm we stole?"  
>"You mean a tracker in it? They don't bother with that. Anyway, ape-face there can just buy a new one."<br>That just left me with one question. "Then the Tea Shack..."  
>"Won't be searched. Who'd go in there? It's been out of business for years, and few people are stupid enough to set up new businesses these days. Too dangerous 'cause of the kids, see?" He glanced down, then pulled us back behind the sign. "Some people try, but we clean up after ourselves well. All anyone ever finds is a few free boxes of stuff we stole and stored. But most people... well, the places what're already here, they stay open until it cuts into their profits bad like. We don't deliberately try to drive 'em out, but we gotta sleep somewhere."<br>Lie, cheat and steal – whatever it took to keep his boys safe, Tommy would either do it, or guide us through it, even if it meant driving a small business out to give us another safe-house – if they could even be called that.


	6. Roxas's tale, part 3

Sparky told me that normally, one of us would have taken a few hours sleep while the other kept watch, then part way through the night we'd switch. I persuaded him to go take his sleep while I kept watch on the clean up of the mess we'd caused. I can get by on short sleep if I need to.  
>It didn't take them long to counteract the sedative, though the smaller zombies seemed to shake off the effects without the need for medical help. A brief fight broke out when one of the big apes realized someone had stolen his arm, rather amusingly blaming everyone else around before finally muttering a few oaths about 'those damn kids'.<br>They were piled into the back of the van that had turned up, then the lot of them cleared off. Sparky had been right – they'd searched everywhere and questioned everyone – except the Tea Shack and the gang. We were right under their noses, and they didn't even think to check.  
>So the second night in the city was over, and my second day dawned without incident. Sunrise in King City is an interesting affair, when it isn't raining. The perpetual smog that seemed to hover just above street level lights up as the dawn light pierces it, and it changes colour depending on all kinds of things. The temperature, if it rained the day before, and the street cleaners to name a few. Street cleaners might not seem like an obvious one, but in the parts of the city where they blast the dirt off the streets, the chemicals get into the smog.<br>Today was a blue-grey. Nothing special about that, but at times like that it can get so thick in places it's like looking out of a skyscraper over the tops of the real clouds.  
>Whisper joined me on the roof, handing me a small white bag.<br>"Eat up," he murmured in that quiet voice everyone uses in the small hours, taking a burger out of his own bag.  
>"When did you get this?"<br>"Just now," he replied. "Place a few doors down."  
>"Didn't see you leave," I said, keeping it short as I tucked into my own one. It wasn't much, but after a long night it was welcome. That, and I'd missed dinner – and as they say, hunger is the best sauce.<br>"I know. I'm good at that."  
>"Warm, too. What did you do, steal it?"<br>"Please?" he protested around a mouthful. "Stupid chefs forgot to lock the kitchen door. Cooked 'em up fresh like. Also nicked a few other things, a little burner thing and some supplies."  
>"So you can cook something, right?"<br>"Me? I hate cooking. Tommy normally takes care of it, but he'll probs pass it off on you now."  
>"Oh, joy," I muttered. "Heads up," I added, nodding down the road to a single patrol car slowly coming down the road. Both the driver and passenger were looking around as they came down as if searching.<br>Whisper set his burger back into the bag, putting it on the ledge as we both crouched.  
>"Little trick I learned," he murmured, taking out what appeared to be a normal pistol, though with a larger barrel. "Get some gum, mix it together and stick it inside a paintball." A sickly green ball was drawn out and slotted down the barrel. "Get the mix just right, and you get a gumball, one of the most disgusting things known to the fuzz. And this is why," he added, taking aim. One shot later, and the contents of the ball were spread over the windscreen of the car. It hadn't damaged it, but it had splashed out to cover far more of it than I expected.<br>"Won't they just wash it off?"  
>"That's what the gum's for – that stuff ain't getting off easily. Accidentally got caught by one myself once. Ruined my jacket. 'course, if like me you add a bit of rotten egg to the mix..." he trailed off as the officers got out of the car, then started choking. A bit of the stench even reached to us on the roof.<br>"That's not nice," I accused, trying not to laugh at the hapless officers.  
>"Of course it is. Nasty would be freezing normal paintballs. They do way more damage. If I'd used a few of them, I could make that car a write off in no time."<br>"Pretty neat," I remarked, watching the officers try and clean off the screen and stand the smell before just giving up and leaving it.  
>"Saw your loot, by the way," Whisper said after a time. "Nice catch with the arm."<br>"Wouldn't have known what it was if it hadn't been for Sparky. All I did was find a small screwdriver."  
>"Yep, usually a sure sign your victim's got some cybernetics on him somewhere. All the rage with the adults, but the Alliance..."<br>"Doesn't like them?"  
>Whisper snorted. "Like? Put it this way, Rocky – if the adults are all over them, we don't want nothing to do with it. Sticking technology in your body... it's gross anyway. Except old Doc Kildare. He's pretty cool."<br>"What did he have done?"  
>"Got into an accident and ended up having most of his old body traded in for cybernetics. He still looks mostly human, but the stuff in his hands and arms makes him like a walking surgery. Best damn doctor we got."<br>We were quiet for a bit longer, then I noticed Tommy leaving. He walked backward to wink at us on the roof, then turned back and continued on.  
>"Wonder what he's up to."<br>"The boss? Don't worry about it. He can take care of himself, more'n any of us could by ourselves. 'swhy I've been told to to stick with you today. Sparky's minding the store here, and we're free to do whatever."  
>"I don't know what to do. Though I gotta thank your contact – these clothes are warmer than I thought they'd be."<br>"I know. The others said the same when I got them theirs. I always get stuff what's made to stand up to everything we got to go through, even the cold and wet. Oh yeah – don't go out if the smog's green, by the way."  
>"Why not?"<br>"Means it'll rain, and you really don't want to be caught in one of our showers. No one goes out then." That was when I got given a brief introduction to the colours of the smog and what they meant. They were often a good way of predicting the weather. He didn't explain what he meant about the rain though, and before I asked, he said, "C'mon. Let's go trade your loot for some better stuff. See what we can get for it."  
>"There's these too," I said, pulling out the rings. I hadn't put them in with the wallets we'd purloined.<br>He glanced at them, then continued on inside"Keep 'em for now. You'll only get their real value if you take 'em to a jewellery place, and they're more likely to nick them back off you. Not much call for them among us really, but nice finds all the same."  
>"So you think we'll find buyers for the rest?"<br>"Not buyers. We don't hold much stock in cash. But there's always someone in the Alliance who wants them. The arm'll be so full of tech that all the mech gangs will be after it the moment they hear we got it. Guns'll probably end up in East Side, but we don't go there ourselves. Too dangerous."  
>That left only the wallets, containing money, both paper and plastic varieties, ID cards of various kinds and all kinds of other cards. We kept their access cards, since they'd get us into several facilities belonging to their corporation, but everything else was left there.<br>The guns and the arm were packed into a box just large enough to take them, folded over so no one could tell what was inside.  
>Whisper advised me that just going to the most obvious gangs was not always the wisest course of action, and took took me down out of the southern end of Chinatown and into the Combat Zone. So named because anyone who went here was either looking for a fight, the cause of a fight, or targeted by others who were going to fight. The fuzz wouldn't answer a call here, but Corporate Security would with enough backup. Few safe havens there.<br>There was a way to find the safe haven we were after though, and that was to look for a building with a door frame painted red, along with a random number above it that changed weekly. This week's lucky number was 243. What was inside? The Beaver Angels and their rudimentary field hospital.  
>Doctor Kildare was easily recognisable, being the only adult among them. Whisper's description hadn't been wrong. He looked like your normal doctor, white coat and all that, but with metallic grey hands. They didn't shine like the arm from the previous night had.<br>When we came in, he was working on a patient, a medical mask over his face, and the fingers of one hand spread out into a mass of tools that rotated around seemingly by themselves. The patient looked like a miniature policeman who'd been shot in one shoulder.  
>"Grey Wolves," Whisper whispered to me, identifying him. "They're like the Alliance's own police. They guard what territory we claim down here in the Combat Zone, and don't give it up without a fight."<br>We looked on as the doctor calmly removed the bullet, holding his patient down with his other hand. Still conscious because anaesthetics are hard to come by. Makes it a bit more scary when you become his patient, but at least you know you're in good hands.  
>The wound was cleaned, sewn closed, then had a bandage put over it.<br>"Good as new," Kildare announced. He even sounded human. "Go easy on that shoulder for a time."  
>The little guy sat up, patting at it gingerly as he pulled his shirt back on, wincing often. "Thanks, doc," he grunted with another wince. "I owe you again."<br>"Nonsense. I'm just doing my job. But do try to stay out of harm's way this time?"  
>"I'll try, but no promises doc."<br>Kildare chuckled as his patient left, then noticed us.  
>"Ah, Whisper. You're looking well. How's your leg?"<br>"Aches a bit in the cold, but doing great."  
>"Glad to hear it. Should hold up nicely after the work I did on it. New friend?" he asked, looking at me.<br>"Joined the gang just yesterday. Name's Rocky."  
>"And an interesting person I can see already. Do you know, you have no heart, mister Rocky?"<br>This casual remark would spook anyone, Nobody or not.  
>"You can... I mean..." I couldn't even start the sentence, let alone finish it.<br>"Medical scanners in the eyes," he tapped beside one. "I can see at a glance everything I need to about my patients. I'm curious, what did you do to replace your heart?"  
>"Uh... it's sort of complicated..."<br>"And it ain't why we're here," Whisper added. "Now its our turn to play doctor – how're you holding up?"  
>"Aside from a few scratches here and there, I'm as good as can be expected. I really should have an overhaul of the systems, but I don't have the parts."<br>"Rocky?" Whisper said then. I pulled the arm we'd liberated out of the box and presented it to him.  
>"Stole it last night," I said with a hint of pride. Alright, so I hadn't been the one to personally take it, but I'd found the screwdriver that had led us to it. "Think you can use it?"<br>Kildare took it off me, turning it over in his hand as he examined it, I assume with all those extra filters his eyes gave him.  
>"Certainly, I can use some of the parts," he concluded, handing it back. "But this is a new model I've never come across before. I don't have the tools I'd need to get into it."<br>"Would this help?" I asked, pulling out that tiny screwdriver.  
>Kildare looked at me speculatively. "Name your price, my boy."<br>"Whisper?" I had no idea what to ask for, and didn't want to show that just yet. Kildare probably assumed that I passed it to him because Whisper was the one he usually dealt with.  
>"Lemme see..." he thought for a moment. "We could use a coupla medkits, that Drone Control unit you nicked off us when Sparky came in last, and as many electrical wires as you can lay your hands on."<br>"Are you trying to be funny, Whisper?" he spluttered. "This is a hospital, not a workshop. And medkits are extremely hard to come by, even incomplete! Two of them is completely out of the question."  
>"I know you're always collecting things from everyone who comes in here, it's how they they pay their way. Are you telling me you really don't have anything that fits the bill? Or did you just trade it away already?"<br>"Don't give me that tone, young man. You know I don't give away anything useful lightly."  
>"So you do have one, you just don't want to give us the medkits, huh?"<br>"How am I meant to treat people if you're taking them off me, Whisper?"  
>"You've got the doctoring hands, and I swear no one's ever seen you use anything but the tech stuck in you. You don't need them."<br>"What about emergencies?" he countered. "If something comes up, the rest of the gang has to have something to back me up with until I can get there. It can make all the difference."  
>"You make sure they're fully equipped to go into any kind of situation, it's why your medkits are rarely complete, you pilfer the stuff out of them for the others."<br>"What you're asking is absolutely absurd, Whisper."  
>"Come on, Whisper," I said then. "It's clear the good doctor doesn't want our business. We can go stop by the Nuts and Bolts instead, I'm sure they'll be only too happy to take the arm off us."<br>Whisper looked for a moment like he'd object, then he turned to leave with me.  
>"Guess you're right, Rocky. Maybe we should have gone to them first."<br>"Now hold on just one moment," Kildare called, coming after us. "I never said I wasn't interested!"  
>"Then cough up," Whisper told him without stopping. "You made the mistake of getting us to name our price."<br>"I asked him, not you."  
>"And I passed it to Whisper," I told him. "So what he says is the price, I say it is too."<br>"I can't just hand that much over like this, Rocky. You'll have to add something else."  
>Whisper looked to me, leaving it in my hands. She'd given him the base price and I'd got him to accept it, now I just had to add the finisher. And I had just the thing.<br>"You wanted to know about my heart, right? I didn't replace it, it's the way I was created."  
>"Created? You're... no, you can't be some kind of clone."<br>"I'm what we call a Nobody. I'm created from someone who used to have a heart. I don't know what happened to him to make him lose his, but I'm what's left."  
>"You shouldn't be able to survive without a heart. There's... something there, but I can't identify it."<br>"Don't ask me. All I can tell you is that it replaces it." I wasn't ready to let anyone outside of Tommy know the full details just yet. "So, you satisfied now doc?"  
>He considered it, then sent several of his own gang running to find stuff. Whisper took the box off my hands, leaving me with the arm, which I handed to Kildare. With my free hand, we shook to confirm the deal. A real shake too – not just take hold like anyone else, the way we do it is to take hold of the wrists instead. Which given the stuff in his hands was probably much safer.<br>"A Nobody, huh?" Whisper remarked as we left, the box laden down with our gains. "Sounds interesting. Who's the one who lost his heart?"  
>"I don't remember. Makes me a bit unique among Nobodies, the others all do. Except for Xion, she's like me."<br>"You never mentioned this before."  
>"I told Tommy. I guess he didn't think it was worth mentioning."<br>"Nobody or not, you pulled that of nicely. Li'l shaky with your technique, but not bad. Think I'll teach you how to really deal with people when it comes to them guns we got. Just stand back, watch and learn."


	7. Axel's Intermission

"Wait just a moment," Axel interrupted. "You can't seriously expect me to believe all this, Roxas. You've gotta be making some of it up."  
>"Nope, not a bit," Roxas replied. "Tommy and the boys will verify it if you ask them."<br>"They could just be saying that. I just don't buy it."  
>"Suit yourself. I'm telling the truth, but if you don't want to believe me..."<br>"I'm not convinced, " Axel insisted. "And neither is Xion. Right?"  
>"Speak for yourself, Axel," she answered. "It's a little out of the ordinary, but I don't see anything I can't believe in what he's saying. There's just one thing I don't get."<br>"What's that?" Roxas asked.  
>"The kid who was in here when we came up – you called him Adam, but if he's the same boy you and Axel saw when you first got here, then how come you also called him Battery?"<br>"Adam's his real name. Battery's the name he chose for himself. Normally no one bothers with their real names, but he insisted when..." Roxas trailed off, looking to Tommy, who shook his head.  
>"I think that's enough," he murmured. "We don't have any reason to tell them that just yet."<br>"Thought so. Wanted to be sure though."  
>"Why can't you just tell us?" Axel demanded.<br>"Because you're not part of the gang," Roxas replied matter-of-factly. "And you're an adult, but we're overlooking that because you're also my friend. Besides... until you can accept this is what I did, there's no sense in telling you about it just yet."  
>"How am I meant to trust you, if you won't trust me?"<br>"You went with the Corporates," Tommy explained. "Normally, we'd never deal with you at all because of that. The only reason we're making an exception is because I promised Roxas I'd find a way to reunite the two of you."  
>"Say, you guys hungry?" Roxas asked then. "If you are, I can grab us something before I carry on telling you about all this. Saves you having to interrupt."<br>"I don't care for stolen food," Axel muttered bitterly.  
>"Suit yourself. Xion?"<br>"What've you got?"  
>"Dunno. I haven't decided where to get it from yet."<br>"Sure, I guess."  
>"Sure you don't want something Axel?"<br>"Fine. Whatever."  
>Roxas shook his head and left them with Tommy. Once he'd gone, Tommy turned to Axel.<br>"Is this because you heard a different tale of what things are like here?" he asked. "One you don't want to believe isn't true?"  
>"You could have lied to him, shown him what you wanted him to see."<br>"And be as bad as the Corporates? No thank you. I gave Roxas the freedom to go wherever and do whatever he wanted."  
>"Even if he was telling the truth, where did you go on that morning, huh? How do I know you didn't go arrange for all that, and that Whisper played along just to convince Roxas?"<br>"Again, that's what the Corporates do, not us. Can you honestly tell me that you had freedom of movement?"  
>"That... was for my own safety, they told me!"<br>"Because it would put you at risk of being attacked by us? We regularly run the opposite of that risk. I don't stop my boys from taking it."  
>"You didn't let Roxas come and find me!"<br>"I didn't know where to find you, and in any case, you heard it from him – he chose to work with us because it gave him information, it gave him safety, and he wouldn't have had to work with the adults that do not trust us."  
>"He also said lie, cheat and steal – whatever it took."<br>"Whatever it took to stay alive, Axel. I was the one taking risks to find you, not him. Of course, if he'd come to me and asked to take a more active role in the efforts, I would have let him – but he chose to trust me with it."  
>"Who's to say you never did anything at all to help him, huh?"<br>"Axel!" Xion snapped. "That's enough! We don't know the full story yet."  
>"I don't want to hear the rest of it. All I can see is him making excuses to take the blame off him for turning Roxas into one of them, making him no better than any of the rest of them."<br>"Haven't you been paying attention? They didn't do anything, he chose to go that way!"  
>"They manipulated him!"<br>"Get a hold of yourself Axel! He's your friend above all, why won't you believe him?"  
>Axel turned away, refusing to answer.<br>"I'm curious, Xion," Tommy murmured. "How is it you're so accepting of this?"  
>"He's my friend too. I trust him. What reason would he have for lying to us?"<br>"Perhaps if it had been you forced to make the same choice he had, you would have a different view."  
>"Forced to choose," Axel muttered. "You could have left him there."<br>"Then what? Left him to get taken by the warden and questioned for why he remained in an unlocked cell?"  
>"He would have been able to come down and find me, then we could have both left together."<br>"Oh really? He told me the two of you weren't meant to leave if it meant getting noticed. Undoubtedly you would have been noticed if he tried to break you out so you could do that."  
>"He wasn't even meant to tell you we're Nobodies. Let alone tell you that..."<br>"It was his choice, not mine. He chose to trust me with that knowledge, and I won't abuse that trust."  
>"Yeah, whatever." Axel's tone indicated he still did not believe what he was hearing.<br>"Grub's up," Roxas said, rejoining them. "Chinky from the corner, Recheck."  
>Xion blinked. "What?"<br>"Oh. I guess I forgot you don't know. Chinky is Chinese, name of the food from Chinatown. Recheck is what I got – Egg fried rice is 'Re', 'CH' is for Chow Mein, and 'eck' for extras. Prawn crackers and the plastic forks they dish out. I got enough for all of us."  
>"And the boys downstairs?" Tommy prompted.<br>"Yeah, gave 'em theirs already."  
>"How'd you get this stuff?" Xion asked him, taking it off him.<br>Roxas laughed, set the bag down, then put on a poor face and in a wheedling tone said, "I haven't eaten for a week, can you possibly spare anything?"  
>"You begged for it?" she said incredulously.<br>"Hey, it got us a meal, didn't it? Dunno who he was, but he seemed more than happy to pass off all this on me 'to keep you eating for a few days, my boy'. Heard him re-ordering as I left, so no need to worry about him."  
>"Where did you learn to do that?"<br>Roxas just nodded toward Tommy as he handed Axel his meal, then took out his own.  
>"That's not all I taught him. You should have seen him pull off his first con."<br>"Not yet, boss," Roxas said. "We haven't gotten that far yet."  
>"Why do all of your boys call you boss?" Xion asked Tommy.<br>"Started with Whisper – he's the last one besides me to have survived since I originally joined. All the others... they've been lost in various ways. Some moved on, some turned traitor, others were caught or killed. Anyway, Whisper called me boss from the moment I took control, and it just rubbed off from there. Sparky did it because Whisper did, and Roxas..."  
>"Hey, I'm one of the boys," Roxas said. "Who says I shouldn't do the same stuff they do?"<br>"You know, there's another reason I suggested Rocky as your name," Tommy said then. "When I first joined, the gang was much larger. There was another kid who acted as my mentor at the time, much like I did for you. You look a lot like him, Roxas."  
>"Lemme guess – his name was Rocky?"<br>"His real name was, at least. The name he chose was Ven. I never found out why."  
>"Why'd you choose your name?"<br>"Tommy?" He gave a chuckle, then said, "All this... seemed so much like mobster gangs to me before I joined. In the movies, the mobster weapon of choice was the Tommy gun, and that's where it comes from. Nothing special really."  
>"What about the others?"<br>"Roxas told you about Whisper earlier," he replied. "Sparky used to be from an old mech gang that disbanded after a raid took most of them out. Whisper found him and brought him to me. The name came with him. He told us it was because he was their electronics specialist, and from what I've seen, the name's well deserved."  
>There was a short silence while they ate, then Axel broke it. "I'm not for a minute saying what you did was right, Roxas. But this is definitely some good chow."<br>"Naturally," Roxas answered smugly. "What do you expect from the Chinese Takeaway of the year? Do you have any idea how much this order cost the guy?"  
>"Don't tell me. I don't think I want to know."<br>"_I_ do," Xion said.  
>"Recheck for six at that place comes to a nice hundred and eighty bucks."<br>"Are you kidding me?" Tommy stared. "That little place on the corner?"  
>"Yep. The one you guys keep telling me isn't worth the paint on the door. Just 'cause it looks a bit shabby don't mean the grub's the same. Book and the cover and all that. About thirty bucks for a Egg fried rice and Chow Mein for one, so for the six of us..."<br>"You lucked out, kid. Wonder what the guy was ordering them for."  
>"Dunno, don't care," Roxas replied. "But you can bet he's probably got a ton of savings if he doesn't care about throwing that much away on us like this."<br>"You don't say. Have to remember this, maybe it's time we started patronizing them a little more often in the corner."  
>"Might wanna check on a few other places too," Roxas said, jabbing at the air with the plastic fork. "I reckon we oughta give the diner up by the uni another look, not to mention that place what used to be a kebab place."<br>"You mean the one that got taken over by the pizza chain? Forget it – no one in the Alliance will go to one of _their _places. They're known for trying to bump us off, or at least get us sick enough to get us caught. Rumour has it they get paid a bounty for every one of us they turn into a sitting duck."  
>"'kay, maybe not that place then. But the diner's a definite." He noticed Xion's amazed expression and added, "Don't mind us. We're just talking shop."<br>"You're talking about robbery, Roxas!" she protested.  
>"Finally," Axel murmured. "A little sense."<br>Axel's comment was ignored. "Look, it's like I said – we do whatever we got to. The Corporates aren't going to listen to us, they'll just put most of us through the Read-You camps, and the ones like Tommy what're considered to be too dangerous will just get locked up. They're not gonna give us jobs, or homes, so we have to do whatever it takes to survive."  
>"<em>I<em> never had to worry," Axel sniffed. "I didn't have to pay for my room or food either."  
>"Yeah, well, you're an adult. They don't got any reason not to play nice with you, but me? Given the choice, I'd still go with Tommy and the boys. Now what d'ya say I get on with telling you what I was getting up to?"<p> 


	8. Roxas's tale, part 4

I didn't understand at first why Whisper had insisted on the wires or the Drone Controller – which is really just a really fancy high-tech remote control, like you'd see for the RC cars. It can handle a lot more, has a bigger range to it and was perfect for what he had in mind.  
>The weapons were turned over to another gang that was headed over to East side. At first glance it seemed like we got gouged in that transaction. A sack of paintballs? I was still in the dark about Whisper's goals.<br>We dropped the new gains off at the Tea Shack, then headed northwards to the local University, and with it the back-alleys that dealt not in trash, but the black market. You can get absolutely anything here – for a price. New identity, access codes to some buildings, the police patrol routes, bank account details, weapons... the list goes on, you name it, and someone there either had it or could get it.  
>You can sell things too, of course. You won't get as good a price as you might get if you went elsewhere, but there's no strings attached, no questions asked, and no questions answered either.<br>Always keep a close watch on your belongings though – there are 'customers' bustling around that will steal from you before you're even aware of it. One hapless thief tried to steal from Whisper, and got a knife through his hand for his trouble. Whisper never even looked at him.  
>Alright – so it wasn't the nicest way to do it, and he probably had a lot of questions to answer no matter where he went to get treated. But he wasn't going to be stealing anything with that hand again.<br>We slipped through a back door and into a small room that was probably not a part of the original architecture of the building. Shelves and tables lay everywhere, covered in many things – cash, ID photos, fake ID, wigs, contact lenses – just about everything you needed to turn someone into someone else.  
>The only occupant was an adult woman, probably about the same height as Axel but with electric blue hair. She resembled Whisper, actually. I've suspected a relationship, but never been able to prove it. Not that I've tried, it's none of my business.<br>One big difference between Whisper and this woman was the big gun strapped to her back, and the rack beside her that had a wide selection of knives to it. Larxene would have been in heaven if she'd seen just how much there was there. If she'd ever come back from Castle Oblivion, of course.  
>"Whisper," she nodded to him as we entered, then noticed me. She looked me over appraisingly, then added, "Doesn't hurt to smile, you know."<br>"Let him be," Whisper told her. "He's... different."  
>"So I see. What'll it be this time?"<br>This was another part up to me. I took out all six of the stolen wallets, laying them on a free part of the table nearest her.  
>"It's all there," Whisper said. "Except for access cards."<br>"Access? Who did you get them off?"  
>"Ask Rocky."<br>I was given a piercing look now.  
>"Zombies," I answered shortly.<br>"Which?"  
>"Didn't see."<br>One of them was taken up, the contents examined. An ID card was held under a blue light for a moment, then returned.  
>"It's real," she declared. "I'll take it on good faith the rest are the same. What are you two asking for these?"<br>"I want the rooftop shooting gallery," Whisper replied. "Boss is making arrangements for the place. I just want the kit."  
>"You don't have enough in your gang to use them all."<br>"Don't care. I can work around it."  
>"You'll need ammo."<br>"Taken care of."  
>Fingers were drummed on the table for a moment.<br>"That's all?" Whisper just nodded. "I imagine if I asked..."  
>"That's right," Whisper replied. "I won't tell."<br>"I'm going to need to know where to send it."  
>"Talk to the Uni contact. He'll handle it."<br>She nodded. The wallets were scooped up and set on a shelf, then she said, "Now what about these access cards?"  
>"Out of the question."<br>"There are a lot of people who'd pay good money for even one of them, you know," she said, waving an admonishing finger.  
>"There are a lot of things a zombie access card can get us what can't be traded for," Whisper countered.<br>The woman shifted a box by the wall, revealing a sign that simply read 'Anything'.  
>"It means what it says," she added. "In these parts, at least."<br>Whisper turned to me, not needing to say anything. I assumed that Tommy had filled him in on Axel. I'd told Sparky myself, so I knew the three of them would know.  
>"Better left to the boss," I murmured in response. "Don't want to step on anything he's doing about that."<br>"He won't come up this way though," Whisper told me. "I'm the one what deals with things like this."  
>"What do you think then?"<br>He thought for a moment. "Still got the stuff ya came with, right?"  
>"Yeah. Kept in my room, why?"<br>"Think ya can do without for a bit?"  
>"What're you thinking?"<br>"If your mate found it, say with a sighting of ya, what'd he think?"  
>"He'd come looking in no time."<br>"Right. 'cept he might come with company."  
>"Zombies," I caught the implications.<br>"I reckon I can make use of what Tommy's been planning for the shooting gallery and handle this at the same time. If he turns up with company, we'll just turn it on him'n his company."  
>"Can't you..." I trailed off. I didn't really want to catch Axel as well. Whisper shook his head though.<br>"Whatcha say, Rocky?"  
>I had no idea what the shooting gallery was, or what Tommy was up to. But it'd at least get me the chance to find out if Axel was alright. Maybe even allow me to leave with him if he came by himself. But I found I was reluctant to leave behind my new friends here. Maybe if the time came to leave, I wouldn't find it easy to decide.<br>After a long moment to think about this, I decided. "Do it."  
>Whisper put a hand on my shoulder, then took out the access cards.<br>"Gonna come back up here later with some duds," he told the woman. "Want you to make sure a certain body finds out about them along with some info."  
>"Who's the body?" she asked.<br>"His name's Axel," I said. "I don't know where he is, but you'll be able to identify him. He'll be wearing the same kinda stuff Whisper'll bring up later."  
>"Don't matter how you get it to him, but make sure he gets it with the info."<br>"And the info is?"  
>"Tell him Roxas has been seen in University Park."<br>"This is a lot just for something like that. What's the catch to it?"  
>"He's either locked up, or working with some of the zombies," I told her. "I don't like the idea of either. But those are most likely."<br>"An adult?"  
>"A friend," I corrected firmly. Well, maybe not corrected. She was right. But if word had gotten out about this... I knew the Code. I wasn't going to endanger the Alliance.<br>She finally agreed to handle this and make the arrangements Whisper had negotiated for this shooting gallery. Once we were clear of the black market and heading back for the Tea Shack, I had to ask a few questions.  
>"Who was she?"<br>"We don't got a name for her. If we gotta talk about her, then she's just the Shoemaker."  
>"She looks like you."<br>"Coincidence." Okay... not something he wanted to talk about, obviously.  
>"What's the shooting gallery?" I asked instead, steering clear of that minefield.<br>"Paintball guns. Proper ones too, not like the one what I used this morning. The gangs hire it out when they want to really humiliate the zombies or something. Corporate Security hates getting caught by it."  
>"There's only four of us, you know."<br>"Yep. Didja think I asked for that stuff earlier for the fun of it? Sparky'n I are gonna rig up a system to let us control the lot – even aim, if I can figure it out. All ya gotta do is slap a beacon on the targets, and they'll track it until it's outta range."  
>"But Axel..."<br>"If he don't come alone, is he gonna see Roxas, or will he meet Rocky?" Whisper asked. "You gotta decide."  
>"If he doesn't... and he meets me... I mean Rocky... then what'll happen?"<br>"Then the boss's original idea goes ahead. Beacon, shooting gallery, and a bunch of repainted zombies or coppers depending on who he's with. Your mate too, probs. That's the way of it."  
>"I don't really like that."<br>"Is that Roxas speaking, or Rocky?"  
>"Does it matter? They're both me."<br>"You might wanna change that. Roxas is a Nobody, like ya told me. Rocky's just another kid in a gang causing trouble. Keep 'em separate. Don't let one spill into the other."  
>"I'm still getting the hang of being one of you, now you want me to do this too?"<br>"Worthwhile though. So who ya gonna be if he ain't alone?"  
>I thought about it, then decided.<br>"Can't break the Code. Roxas would just get people in trouble. He'll have to meet me instead."  
>"That's the spirit," Whisper told me encouragingly. "Just got to find you a sense of humour now, huh?"<br>"Hey! Who says I don't got one?"  
>That little fake argument went back and forth for most of the way back. It was more a way for him to help 'Rocky' seem more like a real kid, not just the Nobody I was.<br>When we got back to the Tea Shack, I dug out my Organization coat and the stuff with it for him to hand over to the Shoemaker, then filled Sparky in on the plan after Whisper headed right out again.  
>After that, since I'd been up all night, I decided it was about time I got some sleep. A few sheets on a hardwood floor isn't the best bed, but at least it kept me aware enough that I'd be able to rouse myself and be up and ready in moments if I had to. Life like this is nervous – fun, but very nervous sometimes.<p> 


	9. Roxas's tale, part 5

It felt like only a few minutes after I'd laid down to sleep that Sparky was shaking me awake.  
>"C'mon – we gotta go, quick like!" he was whispering insistently.<br>"What's going on?" I murmured, rolling out of the sheets.  
>"What else? Boss wants us on the roof already."<br>Zombies. Either we'd been found, or we were at risk of being found. I quickly searched myself, making sure I still had what few belongings I had, then we both hurried up the back stairs. As I closed the roof hatch behind me, I heard the sound of wood splintering below. Someone was kicking in the door.  
>Whisper and Tommy were waiting for us not far from the hatch, though Tommy quickly beckoned to us and started over the various rooftops. Whisper must have started his work with the shooting gallery, since none of us had the various items we'd traded for earlier on – but it was later than it had been when I'd tried to get a bit of shut-eye, and I wasn't sure how much I'd missed.<br>We hurried to catch up with them, though it wasn't really necessary. Once we reached as far as we could on these rooftops, there was nowhere to go – except up, to the roof of a taller building.  
>"Sparky," Tommy said tersely. Sparky nodded, pulling a grappling hook out of a bag he'd picked up without my noticing and expertly swinging it up to the next roof. He gave it a tug to make sure it had caught, then started rapidly climbing up it. "You next," he told me, keeping watch behind. I didn't climb quite as quick as Sparky had, but I didn't take too long. Sparky gave me a hand the last of the way up as Whisper started climbing below, then handed me a pistol – a real one, not like the modified paintball shooting one Whisper had brought out earlier.<br>I don't like guns. They have their uses I'll grant, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. A short glance told me this one was loaded. I don't think Sparky noticed my reluctance to take it, or at least hold it ready to use, but I was more concerned with keeping out of sight in case any zombies figured out we were on the roof.  
>Whisper we both gave Whisper a hand up, then just after that Tommy too, as he'd chosen to come up right after her. Sparky quickly coiled up the rope and stowed it away.<br>"What now?" I murmured.  
>"Down," Tommy answered, not pausing once he was up. The roof we were on was a small apartment building, two stories taller than the three-story buildings we had been on top of. There were several skylights on the top and he checked each in turn, then selected one. This time, Whisper went to work, glancing at the rims of the skylight then pulling out a series of eight screwdriver bits and what appeared to be eight small metal cylinders to slot them in – one for each of the screws holding it in place.<br>In moments he'd slotted a bit into each cylinder, then secured each of them over a screw. He reached into his jacket one more time, and the cylinders all whirred for a moment, allowing him to lever the skylight up.  
>Tommy ducked in head first to check the area, then pulled up to say, "All clear – Sparky, Rocky, Whisper," then he dropped down in. The names were the order we were to follow, naturally.<br>It wasn't much of a drop, but it seemed much higher when it came to my turn. Like the others had before me, I sat down on the edge first, then pushed myself forward to drop down, bracing myself to land. I remembered what Tommy had told me about doing this – bend the knees and lean forward to steady myself.  
>We were actually in someone's apartment. I didn't pause to take in the room, since I had to get clear for Whisper to join us. He reached into his jacket one more time as the skylight dropped closed, and we heard the whirring again, though fainter. Then there was a clink.<br>"Gets them off the screws," he explained when I looked up curiously. "Then I set 'em to melt. Leaves no evidence."  
>"Neat," I remarked.<br>"This way!" Tommy called from the hallway. "Quickly – Sparky's almost disabled the alarm."  
>We didn't waste any time getting to them, and it was just as well. Sparky almost tore whatever device he was using from the wall, pulling the door open.<br>There were no words spoken between us as we took the stairs down. Once we got on the ground floor, we slowed down, hid the various weapons we had and tried to look like normal kids – if there is such a thing – and headed out into the evening streets. I tried not to think about the loaded pistol I'd stowed inside my jacket.  
>We'd turned a corner while on the rooftops, and so did not exit onto the same street as the Tea Shack. Despite that, there was clear activity in the area that was not normal. There were a suspiciously high number of plain, unmarked dark cars. The key point there is unmarked – anyone who leaves an unmarked, unblemished dark car around is going to find it goes missing, gets spray-painted with graffiti, or gets covered in scratches. Unless of course, it belongs to zombies of some kind.<br>"Anyone gets caught, meet at the docks west of the University," Tommy breathed, just loud enough for us to hear. "Lay low, keep out of trouble, I'll find you."  
>"The docks will be crawling," Sparky warned.<br>"Not tonight," Whisper whispered, true to his name. "Shoemaker let slip. Contraband on a techie ship, swarming over it. Keep to the north part of the docks, we'll be fine."  
>"Keep it down," Tommy warned us. "Some of these zombies might have upgraded their ears."<br>"Stop right there!" several voices called to us, one group from behind us the end of the street with the Tea Shack, and another from our left, down a different one.  
>"Scatter!" Tommy barked, ducking into a nearby nightclub. Whisper headed toward away from the Tea Shack zombies, while Sparky headed to the right, away from the other bunch. I went between the two, at first running down the same road Sparky went down but on the other side, then spotting a mall down a road I passed. No doubt it'd be easy to lose them in there, I reasoned, changing direction to make a beeline for it.<br>"After him!" several voices called, followed by a series of similar commands issued, I assume for the others. I risked a glance behind to see a half-dozen suits heading after me, and gaining.  
>The car park beside the mall was closer, and being a multi-story concrete affair it left little sight of the inside from out here. I turned sharply to head in, making it appear to them as if I was going straight in, then ducked down, doubled back and rolled under the car right beside the entrance. Moments later, the suits came in. Two went up to the next floor, two headed down to the basement floor, and the last two held back. After a moment to confer, one headed into the mall itself, while the other started to search this area.<br>Making as little noise as possible, I crawled out from my hiding place, crouching between the first two cars and creeping forward to peer out at the remaining suit. He seemed unaware of my subterfuge, so I took in the route between where I was, and the entrance to the mall. The one I thought had gone into the mall was still within the car park itself, so there was no way I'd be able to use the direct route.  
>Instead, I'd have to cross from here to the other side, pass between the cars on that side and over the low wall that separated it from the cars parked on the far side, then try to sneak past the second zombie still in sight, while in plain view, and into the mall. This was going to be an interesting challenge.<br>Getting past the first zombie wasn't much trouble. A car came in to park, forcing him to step out of the way. I took advantage of the sound and his watching it pass to make it across unnoticed, flattening myself against the ground to watch his feet. They turned away from me, continuing to check between cars. Perfect.  
>Now I crept to the wall, peering through the windows of the cars to see the second zombie, who like the first was checking the cars. He hadn't drawn level with me yet, but he wasn't far from it. I had to duck down again and wait, taking a chance that he would have passed on by the time I risked a check.<br>A nervous wait later, I took that risk and looked up. Two cars down from me. Luck was with me today it seemed, and I was able to climb over the wall without incident. The problem remained that he was between me and the mall, and I'd be seen if I tried to cross. I had to find something.  
>I searched myself. I didn't have many belongings – most of the ones I'd brought with me to this world were still in my coat, and that was probably on its way to Axel by now. All I had on me were a few bucks I'd stolen from the wallets as a finder's fee, the four rings, two knives and the pistol.<br>Whisper had told me the rings didn't really have much of a value, and there was no way to get anything out of them without losing out entirely. I took them out, thinking for a moment, then stood up, took one, and threw it through the gap toward the first zombie, quickly getting down again. There were several taps where it landed on a car, then the tinkle of it reaching the ground. Neither of them said a word, so I chanced another look. Both were distracted, looking around for the source. I tossed another one, this time past the second zombie and once more ducked down. This time I went low so I could watch his movements.  
>He took the bait, noticing the ring on the ground and moving toward it. I sent the last two following the paths of the first, then watched as the two gathered at the far end to discuss the finds. If one of them was alert, they might notice me run into the mall, but they were far away from me. I could chance that safely and find a place to hide again.<br>"That's him!" one of them called, but he was too late – I'd already slipped into the mall, taking an escalator two steps at a time to get to the top, pushing past startled shoppers. There were a lot of them, unusually so for this late, until I noticed one of the signs advertising the mall as one of the only 24 hour ones in the city. Convenient for me.  
>I knew I only had moments before the pursuing zombies regrouped and came in after me, so I had to move quickly and think quicker. A clothing store offered the respite I needed easily. I picked out a hoodie and a beanie hat at random on the way through, heading for the changing rooms at the back. The hoodie was green, not a colour I ever really considered wearing, but different enough to my white that they'd look right past me – I hoped.<br>Once inside the changing rooms, I pulled out one knife and carefully cut off the security tags so there would be no evidence I'd removed them instead of the staff, then pulled both on, ensuring the hat covered my hair completely and the hoodie my jacket. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed it, I looked different alright. I took a few moments to change how I stood, shoving hands in the hoodie's single pocket and slouching a bit and adding a scowl, then if I hadn't known better I'd have sworn the kid in the mirror was someone else.  
>I knew if any of the staff saw me come out of the changing rooms they'd immediately recognise the hoodie I'd snatched up on the way in, so I took some stairs down to the lower floor again. This clothing store was spread over both, menswear on the top, and on the bottom the stuff for women and really young children. I imagine I looked out of place picking my way through there, but paid little attention to anyone else, scanning the area for the zombies. I saw one, but he looked right at me and didn't seem to recognise me, so with new confidence, I started looking like I was just window shopping. One quick change of clothes, and I was a whole different kid to them.<p> 


	10. Roxas's tale, part 6

Despite the signs claiming it to be open at all hours, not all the businesses that had set up shop did a round the clock trade. Stores selling alcohol and other age-restricted products were always open, not that it did me any good. Even if I did have enough to pay the extortionate prices put up, they wouldn't have let a kid like me buy them.  
>Only a few of the cafés and other food joints were still open, and most were nearly deserted as it was. The only one that wasn't I decided it was wiser to avoid anyway – at first glance it appeared to be little more than a pizza joint, but after I spotted several tables where weapons were meant to be sneakily being traded, it was clear that this place was just yelling for a cop to come shut it down.<br>One of the six zombies that was combing the mall for me wasn't far away. He was corporate security and not a cop, but he had the kind of official look about him that meant anyone with an ounce of trust in the authorities would report things to him. Of course, first you'd have to find such a person, but I wanted to test my newly assumed identity, so I came up to him. I got given a cursory disapproving glance as I approached, then ignored.  
>"Hey, mister," I drawled. "I seen something what I reckon you should see."<br>"Go away," he told me, not even looking down. "I'm busy here."  
>"Suit self. But you're gonna miss out on catching 'em all while they're still there," I told him, slouching off again. I didn't get far, because he grabbed my shoulder, turned me around and brought me right back to him.<br>"Catch who, boy?"  
>"Over in the pizza place. Guns all over the shop, and I heard em paying big bucks for it." I was improvising now. I didn't want him to lose interest. "Wouldn't mention it to ya, cept I overheard another thing too. Said they were hiding some fugitive kid."<br>He'd paid less attention until the word 'fugitive' then his attention was fully on me.  
>"His name. You must have heard his name."<br>"Sure I did. Said his name was Roxas, and they were gonna get him down to the University Park sometime tomorrow."  
>He took hold of one of my arms, pulling the hand from the pocket, turned it palm up, then to my amazement he pulled out his wallet and gave me a note for fifty bucks. Just for telling him that.<br>"Now scram," he told me, closing my hand around the note and straightening up.  
>I took that very advice, stashing the note away and not looking back. I decided it was about time I found a place to stop and get something decent to eat. Not that Whisper's morning burger hadn't been good, but to be fair it was a long time ago now. That was this morning, and now it was evening.<br>Feeling fairly secure in the knowledge that no one was going to recognise me, I got myself a simple sandwich and a soda from a small café by some windows overlooking the street below, keeping watch on the few pedestrians going about this late in case one of them happened to be one of the rest of the gang.  
>The worst thing you can do at a time like that is relax. While I'd seen two of the six suits that had been after me, and sent one off on a wild goose chase that would probably shut down the weapons sideline the pizza place ran, there were still four others to worry about. For all the small changes I'd made to seem like another kid entirely, there were many similarities – I can't change my face that easily, and I hadn't bothered to change pants or sneakers either, so if one of them was brighter than the rest they might pick up on that.<br>As it was, I was still inexperienced at this sort of thing, so I relaxed and started paying less attention to what was going on inside the mall than I should have.  
>It was by pure chance that I managed to avoid getting caught. From where I sat, I could see down to where the pizza place was, and I could see all of the six just outside it in discussion. I'd finished my sandwich and decided I'd stayed in one place too long, so finished the drink, tossed the lot in a recycler and started to leave, keeping to the opposite side of the mall to them where possible.<br>I kept an eye on them, noticing a small argument break out over something, then they looked toward where I had until recently been sat. Even through the sounds of a nearby arcade, it was possible to hear the bubble of silence that surrounded them. I quickly headed for a nearby escalator heading back down, thankfully with no one on it and started down. I tried not to look out of the ordinary, and also tried to keep watch on them surreptitiously.  
>Half way down, I heard a cry that would become all too familiar: "Don't let him get away!" A quick glance upward told me they were talking about me, so I bolted, taking the last of the escalator at a jump and after only a moment to orient myself, I headed out the opposite side to the way I'd come in, knowing that if I took a left once outside I'd be on the way to the docks. If I got that far, or needed to go that far.<br>Along the way I noticed that a lot of the alleyways here were almost full of trash, as if it never got taken away. Not useful, you'd think, but that's not the case.  
>Four of them were still after me, and they can run faster than I can. I turned another corner and scrambled up the heaps of trash in the first alley I got to before they turned the corner, taking an unsteady jump up to a fire escape and from there over the high wall at the end of the alley. Thankfully the trash on the other side gave me a soft, if fragrant, landing.<br>I didn't stay still for long, knowing these guys were smarter than I'd given them credit for. Back down this side of the trash heaps, down another alleyway that was filled with boxes. I ducked behind them as I spotted one of the pursuing zombies start to come into view, then had an idea.  
>I made as little sound as possible, rearranging the nearest boxes so I could squeeze in behind them, then arranging them so nothing looked out of place – I hoped. I managed to push out a small hollow area to stop in that even had a few small holes I could see out of. This of course gave them a way to look in, and if they did that I wouldn't have a way out this time, but I didn't have any choice now I'd gotten myself into this. I'd have to stick it out.<br>After a long wait, I heard someone say, "He can't have just disappeared."  
>"If you had recognised him at the mall, he wouldn't have," another voice retorted.<br>"Oh, well excuse me for being distracted! How was I supposed to know he'd changed his clothes?"  
>"You took the awareness exam, didn't you?" a third said acidly. "You're meant to be trained to see through these things, not get fooled by them!"<br>"Stop that the lot of you," the first voice said. "We're being recalled. Tamayana wants us back at the tower immediately."  
>"But the boy-"<br>"Forget about the brat if you want to collect your pay!"  
>There was a sullen chorus of understanding, followed by muttered complaints growing fainter. I waited a little longer in case it was a trap, then cautiously extricated myself from my cardboard haven. Not a suit in sight, and wary glance out at the street beyond was the same. Now I just had to find my way to the dockyards and the rest of the gang.<br>They found me actually, which was probably just as well since I still had a very vague idea of most of the city. Tommy was the first to find me, casually strolling into view two streets across from where I'd hidden, the only difference to him being a few hints of red on one cheek, what appeared to be a collar in one hand and an expression that would have put a thundercloud to shame.  
>"Never hide in a nightclub," he muttered to me once he caught up. "The idiots there were so drunk they can't even tell a minor from their own boyfriend. Or girlfriend, in some cases," he added.<br>"Not a good place to spend the night then, huh?"  
>"Not unless you're some kind of weirdo. I mean seriously, what kind of person tries to stick a collar on a kid!" The collar was held up as if to emphasize the point. "And the breath... you could get drunk just from being kissed by some of them."<br>"You've got a bit still on one cheek, by the way."  
>"Dammit, I thought I'd got rid of all of it," he grumbled, rubbing at the cheek again. "Got it this time?"<br>"Yeah, you got it all."  
>"Any sign of the others?"<br>"No, but I've been kinda busy trying not to get caught." I gave him a condensed overview of what happened to me.  
>"Not too bad. Nice touch with the tip off, if they picked that up with the rest we've been arranging, you can guarantee your friend will turn up tomorrow."<br>"Hopefully alone... I don't like the idea of him working with those kinda guys."  
>"What will you do if he is?"<br>"Then he just won't meet Roxas," I shrugged. "He'll meet me instead, and I'll have to find some way of getting him out of their hands without putting us at risk."  
>"We, Roxas. I told you I'd get him back. I'm not going to turn my back on that."<br>"Thanks boss. Where to, by the way?"  
>"The University itself. Sparky's got a contact up there who's working with the Alliance. He arranged for a dorm to be kept free for the four of us. Sparky and Whisper will probably have ignored my earlier advice and gone up there to add the finishing touches to the Shooting Gallery."<br>"At least we sleep better tonight."  
>Tommy grunted assent. Apparently he was still a bit out of sorts after the nightclub. He was the one who'd chosen to hide there though. I wonder if he actually bothered to check what the place was before he dived into it.<br>He showed me through the University campus and where the park was, though we didn't actually go there just yet. He didn't want to risk there being someone watching who knew about our various leaked information who could send Axel down before we were ready for him.  
>I didn't get to see all of the University, in part because most of the labs and such were locked down and guarded for the night, but more because King City University covers a massive area. You'd need several days just to see it all, so instead we headed up to the student dorms to the one reserved for us.<br>Sparky was already there, and let us know Whisper was already up on the roof putting the finishing touches on the Shooting Gallery. He gave Tommy and me a pair of homing beacons that the paintball guns would target, though they looked to me like a pair of egg yolks. All we'd have to do was peel the adhesive backing off it and slap it on the target and it'd stick, no matter what it was put on.  
>Since I'd slept earlier in the day, I kept watch that night. I wasn't likely to get to sleep all that easily after the excitement the evening had yielded, and the others had all been up all day. My first watch alone, not that there was anything to mention as such. And in the morning, if all went well... I'd meet Axel.<br>The question remained though... would he come alone or not?


	11. Roxas's tale, part 7

The third morning of my time dawned without incident, the day's smog a sunset orange. One of the few safe colours, unless you had certain skin allergies – people with those would be forced to either cover up, or stay inside today.  
>After a small breakfast, Sparky and Whisper went immediately back to work on the shooting gallery, firing off a few test rounds to ensure their rig would work properly. The ammunition they used for those shots were just water, nothing that would leave hints of what was to come. Once they were certain in it's capability to perform, they stole several cans of paints from the nearby University Art department and waited on the roofs. Tommy and I headed down into the park, taking two of the central benches. I left the hoodie and the hat behind this time. It was a warm morning, and anyway if anyone did come with Axel, I was counting on them to be looking for someone wearing them instead of me.<br>"Sure you can do this?" he murmured to me.  
>"Don't keep asking me," I answered. "Only makes it harder. Sides, I know what I'm doing. Just be ready to improvise if I have to say anything."<br>"You don't have much of a plan, do you?"  
>"Not really," I admitted. "But I'll manage."<br>"Morning Tommy," a voice very similar to Battery's said. The kid who joined us looked identical, but there was a smirk to his face that Battery didn't have. This must be his brother Assault. He continued with a nod to me, "You too, Rocky. Oracleboy says to tell you guys good luck."  
>"You know he doesn't like being called that," Tommy chided him.<br>"So what? He's the Oracle, and he's a boy, so what's the problem? Not all I'm here for though – he gave me a message I gotta to give the guys what're coming when you're through with them."  
>I felt a hot distaste at these words. We would have company, and the Oracle, whoever he was, knew it.<br>"What's the message?" I asked curiously, hiding this.  
>"Just another taunt from Oracleboy to Akira – the guy what's got your mate."<br>"Another one?" Tommy sighed. "Doesn't he get tired of taunting Akira?"  
>"Have you ever heard Akira's reactions to them?" Assault said with an even bigger smirk. "He goes absolutely ballistic over it. He hates Oracleboy, and he takes advantage of that to get him all worked up so he'll make mistakes, or just in the hopes he'll come out and play."<br>"Don't you mean come out and get beaten up?"  
>"Can ya blame him? The little bastard murdered his entire family. Can't deny Oracleboy the chance to get revenge, can ya?"<br>"I just had a cheery thought," I said then. "Wouldn't it be pretty awesome if this Akira turned up along with Axel, and got caught by the shooting gallery too?"  
>We shared a look, then just burst out laughing. The idea of repainting one of the most hated figures in the Alliance can hardly be taken any other way. Akira isn't known for his sense of humour, and would probably take it just as badly as the message from the Oracle.<br>"Heads up," Assault warned us after our laughter had faded. "Zombies on the lurch."  
>We followed his nod and spotted them. A group of Corporates masquerading badly as coppers were skirting the edge of the park. One of them was accompanying none other than Axel himself across the lawns toward us.<br>"Tamayana," Tommy breathed, just loud enough to be heard. "Akira's cousin and right hand man. Be very careful, Rocky."  
>Assault winked at me and said, "I'm out." Then he left us.<br>Now we openly looked toward the unlikely duo. For a moment I wanted to run to Axel now I'd found him, but then I caught myself and remembered – Rocky, not Roxas.  
>"Gentlemen," Tommy greeted them with a fake smile. "Is there something we can do for you?"<br>The massive one Tommy had identified as Tamayana just looked to Axel.  
>"I'm looking for Roxas," he told us, somewhat bluntly. I imagine he didn't have a very high opinion of us since he was under the thumb of the biggest corporate leader in the city. "You got brought in with him earlier. What happened to him?"<br>"I couldn't say," Tommy replied, not betraying anything. "After we ah..." he paused for a moment then went on, "discovered a way out... we all went our separate ways."  
>"Which way did he go?" Axel almost demanded of us.<br>"You saw, didn't you?" Tommy asked me, putting this in my hands now. Time to see if I could keep up my identity and convince Axel I wasn't who I looked like, no matter how much I wanted to tell him otherwise.  
>"Sure did," I answered. "Went down south into the Combat Zone. Said he had to find some Axel guy."<br>Axel looked momentarily surprised, but covered quickly. "That's me. If you see him, will you tell him I'm looking?"  
>I said something then that I'd never have said otherwise.<br>"What's in it for me?"  
>"Now, Rocky," Tommy told me, a gentle warning to his voice. "You know we don't do that."<br>"I ain't doing it for nothing, not for some bigger," I replied insistently. Sparky often called adults 'biggers' and it must have caught on me, because I said it without thinking about it. "Not after what happened the last time on of 'em tried. You know what happened then Tommy."  
>"I remember," he lied. Of course there hadn't been any such incident; this was the playing along I'd warned him about before we started. "But that was one incident – surely you can give them a second chance?"<br>I looked over the two adults, trying to see them from the same point of view that the others would have had, then shook my head.  
>"Don't like the look of 'em. The big one's got copper written all over him, and I ain't trusting a copper. As for you," I told Axel and thought for a moment. I knew what I wanted to say, but I didn't want to say it. "Anyone what goes around in something like that is just asking for trouble."<br>Axel looked crestfallen. Here was my best friend, and I'd just told him I didn't trust him. The look on his face left me feeling guilty about what I'd said, but I did my best to ignore it and put it aside. Not as easy as it sounds.  
>Tommy gave a small signal with one hand, and behind Axel and Tamayana we saw their fake coppers get caught in a sudden downpour of paint with various startled cries.<br>"Looks like that's it then, mister Axel." Tommy told him. "You heard it right from him. Incidentally, your friends just fell foul of our trap."  
>As they turned to look, Tommy gave me a wink and pulled out his beacon. I grinned back, the sudden excitement at what we were about to do overcoming the guilt, then slapped it on Axel's back with a cry of, "Tag!"<br>"You're it!" Tommy added, his one on Tamayana's back, then we both headed for cover – we had only moments until the shooting gallery would kick in. Just as we headed into one of the buildings on the opposite edge of the lawns to the coppers, I spotted them sporting a rainbow of colours splattered over them both. Axel had somehow contrived to catch mostly red paintballs. I've often wondered just how many marks that little incident left on him.  
>We headed straight through several buildings, then up to the roof of the Art department to meet up with Whisper and Sparky, who were already dismantling the shooting gallery now it had done its job.<br>"How'd it go?" Sparky asked us. Tommy and I looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing again. I couldn't help myself, despite what I'd said and done, it was just so comical I had to laugh at it.  
>Then we joined in, and with all four of us on the job we had the shooting gallery back in its many component parts in no time. A lot of paintball guns, a few paintballs left over that hadn't been shot, and a box containing the Drone controller and the wiring they'd used to wire it all up.<br>On the way out, Whisper left us to let the contact here know we'd finished and the stuff could go back. We brought the box with the Drone controller with us – those things aren't much in demand among the Alliance, but they're not exactly easy to come by as they're not meant to be in civilian hands – let alone ours.  
>When Whisper rejoined us, we were just passing the dorms. There wasn't anything left in there that was important enough to take with us. I knew we weren't going to be staying there again. The dorms would be searched for us after that incident we'd caused, and all they'd find were evidence of our breakfast, and the stolen hoodie and hat I'd worn.<br>"Where to next, boss?" Whisper asked Tommy as we left, heading northwards toward the towering structure that belonged to the same Akira who was probably going berserk at whatever the Oracle's message was.  
>"Broadway," he replied. "Much as we claim otherwise... we're a little tight on cash, and need to make some to keep going. They don't know us so well in Broadway, so we might not have to steal all the time."<br>"Does that mean we're actually going to... _pay_ for things?" I asked in mock incredulity. "Doesn't that go against our ethics? I mean it's practically legal."  
>"Better paid for than to raise suspicions about us," Tommy replied after the chuckling had subsided. "You might have second thoughts about this though."<br>"Why's that?"  
>"I want you to take charge of something up that way. I taught you plenty of skills, now it's time for you to see what you can do. Take stock of the scene up there, and see what you can come up with. We'll support you as you need, but it's your scene otherwise."<br>"Thanks," I murmured sardonically. "Talk about thrown in at the deep end."  
>"Stop grumbling," Sparky told me. "We've all gone through it. Kinda like a ritual or something. We done it, now you gotta too."<br>And with that delivered to me, I realized it was just another thing I'd have to work through to keep on being one of the boys. Which was fair enough – I'd get another chance to show off what I'd learned to them, and put my new skills to good use.  
>So as Broadway came into view, I took in the scene and started to concoct a plan on my own – a plan that would lead to my first con trick.<p> 


	12. Roxas's tale, part 8

Broadway isn't a place I feel all that comfortable in. The glitz and glamour of the big screens, the musicals, what little theatre was still performed, that's Demyx's kind of stuff, not mine. But like it or not, I had to make something from it.  
>Tommy was the one finding us a safe haven up here, so as we passed through I started to take in the sights. What places were showing what, how much it costed, the limited ticket kind of things – the works. I even made periodic side trips to look in more detail at anything that caught my eye. The others didn't wait for me or stop me, after the other day's scattering, it was clear I could handle myself if it came down to it. If they lost me, they'd just find me again and see what I was doing.<br>As it was, I had a plan forming. Two different cinemas were doing a limited-seat premium viewing of some new movie that had only just come out, and both were sold out. Tickets had been sold at an all-time high for both of them, with them changing hands for over a thousand bucks each – but once someone got hold of them, there was no getting them back.  
>I didn't need to get them back though. I identified someone who already had a ticket watched where she put it after showing it off to her friends, then picked the oldest and most obvious trick in the book – I bumped into her, pretending to be in a rush, but kind enough to hurry back and help pick up the scattered belongings that had been in her handbag. The ticket hadn't come out, but that was no trouble. I took hold of the bag when putting some of her things back in, then some nimble fingers slipped it from the pocket and up into the sleeve of the jacket, catching it on a handy inside seam that would hold it up there and out of sight.<br>The whole time I was faking profuse apologies, then as soon as she'd gotten everything, I was off again and round the corner. She never even realized what happened to her.  
>Of course, one ticket by itself, despite the high prices on them, was not going to get us much. Just selling it on was far too simple. But I needed to know something else first, so went into the cinema and had a look around. Booths on either side, one side for the overpriced refreshments, the other for the tickets. I could see at a glance they were understaffed, with only one member of staff on each booth, and one more handling the long queues of people, checking their tickets as quickly as possible before directing them to the right screen. There were three lines waiting to be let through, complaining loudly about the long delay and possibly missing their movie.<br>This was better than I could have asked for. I quickly located a staff only door, watching another member of staff key in the code to open it when he went to retrieve something from the rooms behind it, then when he came out again, I re-entered the code and slipped in. The locker room turned up a staff shirt and even a blank name tag, so I hid my own shirt and jacket, scribbled Rocky on the tag, and went back out pretending to be a staff member. A few moments at the noticeboard told me what the time was, what screens were showing what movies and when, and then I was back out in the lobby again.  
>I got complaints from the queues as I headed past them, since I looked like one of the staff to them, but I paid little attention, ducking under the barrier at the end then picking one of the two remaining queues at random.<br>"Sorry to keep you waiting sir," I greased the man at the front of the queue, treating him to a broad, fake apologetic smile as I did so. "May I see your ticket?"  
>"Should hire more staff around here, keep your customers happier," he complained, but handed it over.<br>"I wouldn't know anything about that sir, I'm just a temporary worker," I replied. "Screen 3b," I told him, unhooking a part of the barrier to let him through and pointing to my right after a brief glance down the corridor. "Third on the right. Please enjoy your movie."  
>I repeated pretty much the same routine for the whole queue, taking their tickets and directing them.<br>After I finished my queue, the woman who'd handled all the others finished the last one, then came over to me, looking distrustful.  
>"I don't recognise you. When did you start?"<br>"Just now," I answered. "I was hired on short notice to lend a hand. Excuse me though – little boys' room is calling."  
>"Didn't you go before you started?" she sighed, exasperated.<br>"There were customers to see to," I replied loftily. "I can wait until after they're satisfied."  
>Then I went back into the staff rooms, changed back and hid the tag, then checked the tickets. Each of them was identical, showing the price, the movie, the seat, and a unique six-digit code, the first four matching to only one movie, and the last two matching the seat numbers.<br>This was exactly what I'd hoped to find – with these, I could fabricate duplicates of all the tickets that had already been handed out based on the one I'd stolen, then we could sell them all on for a big pay off – and since anyone who'd bought one from us would disavow any knowledge of getting them from anywhere but the cinema, all we had to do was lie low and they'd never be able to trace it back to us. To top it all off, the cinema itself would have twice as many people trying to get in, and if they didn't bother to check the tickets properly, a lot of conflicts over who's ticket was valid and who should have each seat.  
>The tickets I'd collected were stashed in several pockets, then I slipped out again. Another influx of patrons had come in while I'd been in the staff area, allowing me to slink out unnoticed.<br>It didn't take me long to find Whisper, who was standing guard outside what became our local temporary-home. A pub named the Lion's Den, rather aptly given that we, the Golden Lions, were staying there. Tommy had somehow produced funds enough to rent a single room for us all to share for the two days we'd stay here, with meals inclusive. Not a bad deal, given that we were kids, and the general opinion of us wasn't all that high. Kids in Broadway were usually limited to just those being dragged along by the parents to see some movie or another though, so the area had seen less activity than most others and thus the normal reputation was not so strong here.  
>When I got to the room, I saw the bed had already been stripped and what had been on it rearranged to provide four more basic beds on the floor, much like the one I'd had back at the Tea Shack. Since the room wasn't all that large though, they were rolled up to one side.<br>Tommy gestured for me to sit on the edge of the denuded bed, since as he'd said, it was my show here. The three of them took the floor nearby, waiting and giving me a few nervous twinges. Nothing I couldn't ignore though.  
>"Go on, Rocky," Whisper started. "Tell us what you've got so far."<br>"So far?" I replied. "What makes you think I didn't come up with something already?"  
>"Alright then," Tommy said. "So who's the mark?"<br>"Anyone gullible enough to buy from us."  
>"What're we selling?" Sparky asked then.<br>I took out the original stolen ticket, twirling it between two fingers, and said, "Golden tickets. This is one of sixty tickets for an exclusive movie being shown at King's Palace. Limited seats, all of which sold out, and all sold for prices upward of a 'K each." Sparky gave a low whistle at this, but Tommy wasn't convinced.  
>"If they're all sold, how do you plan to make anything from them Rocky?"<br>"Some of the buyers only wanted them to sell them on at a profit to others. Obviously, we can't do the same... but we can do something similar with these." Now I handed out the tickets from the queue to them. "Notice the code on them? First four are the movie, last two match the seat number."  
>"I get it," Whisper nodded appreciatively. "That ticket you've got has the code and the details for the movie. All we gotta do is alter these to match those sixty tickets, and sell them on."<br>"I know someone not far from here what can run us up some real-looking fake tickets," Sparky told me. "But he'll probs insist on a cut to forget about the whole thing."  
>"If we make three copies for each seat, we'll make enough of a killing to make it worth it."<br>"I wouldn't go that far," Tommy warned. "One fake ticket for each real one should do it, otherwise you might end up giving people tickets with the same seat on them. Someone could get suspicious then."  
>"So, sixty tickets, plus our golden real ticket here, means at least ten K in profit, if not more. Still pretty worth it, wouldn't you say? All we gotta do is make the fakes, sell them and rake in the profits."<br>It was mulled over for a few minutes, while I waited tensely. It might be my show, but Tommy was still the boss – he had final say on whether we went ahead with this or not.  
>"What about the cinema itself?" he asked at last. "Surely they'll check the tickets."<br>"Why would they? Oh, maybe if someone's observant they'll realise there's more than sixty coming in, but they're not going to arrive all at once, and by the time they do notice it'll be too late to do anything about it. We'll have made our money already, and if the victims want a refund they have to go to the cinema about it – not us. No one would admit to buying their ticket in a shady back-street deal, would they?"  
>"He's gotta point, boss," Whisper agreed. "I done a bit of sneaking round in a couple of these places before now. Doubt they'll check tickets unless they suspect something's up or they get tipped off."<br>"How much is your guy going to gut us for?" Tommy asked Sparky, who waved a hand uncertainly.  
>"Depends on how much we tell him. He's an Alliance guy, but we don't necessarily gotta give him the full details."<br>"No," I cut in. "We'll be honest. We're all part of the same Alliance, we're only hurting the Alliance as a whole if we try and make it cheaper on ourselves."  
>"Rocky, if I tell him everything, he's going to demand at least forty percent – that's a major piece of how much we could earn!"<br>"Then negotiate with him. Bring it down as low as he'll go."  
>"I think I'll go with you when you see him," Tommy told Sparky. "I'm a better negotiator than you are."<br>"You can say that again. I'm not gonna make the mistake of trying to better you in a bargain."  
>"It's not like I took everything you had," Tommy protested with a smile. "I left you most of your profits from that tech raid."<br>"Most! You nicked a good half of it for yourself!"  
>"I had to pay for this room somehow, didn't I?"<p> 


	13. Roxas's tale, part 9

We had only one day before the screening of the movie began, so everything was rushed. Once we'd finalized the details, Tommy and Sparky headed straight off to his contact to get us the fake tickets. I stayed in our rented room and got Whisper to scout out the local area, looking for the best places and best ways to sell on the tickets, and the kind of prices that were being asked for. With such a short time until the start, prices would be going sky-high just for one ticket. I reasoned that while we could stick our prices up too, lowering them down and undercutting the competition was a better way to go. Lower prices, more customers can afford it, and more tickets sold. Ideally, we'd be able to sell the lot – but that was just an added bonus, if we managed to get half of them gone it would still have been a good day's trickery.  
>With only sixty tickets to print, our forger didn't take long to run them up for us after Tommy haggled with him and got the cut down to thirty percent. Still a considerable amount of their potential earnings, but at least not so much that it'd cut them out of it.<br>Then we all took fifteen of the tickets. I made sure the real ticket was in mine, and the fake one for it was not – it meant if more than one came to me, I wouldn't be handing out two with identical seat numbers.  
>Whisper had spread the word that 'certain kids' in the Broadway area had come into possession of just a couple of the tickets for this event, and might be willing to sell them on if approached right. So when we spread to four different and distant parts of the area all we had to do was hang around and wait for the buyers to flock in.<br>Buyers weren't the only thing coming in though. The various rent-a-cops came in to see what was up as well. I got accosted by one such copper. All I was doing was leaning against the wall just outside a nice shaded alleyway out of sight of a couple of security cameras I'd spotted, minding my own business after having sold two of the tickets already when he showed up.  
>"What're you doing here, kid?" he asked me, getting us off on the wrong foot immediately.<br>"Nuthin'," I told him in a surly tone. "Just waiting for me friends. Nuthin' wrong with waiting wherever I want."  
>"Unless your 'friends' happen to be looking to buy something."<br>"Dunno what you're talkin' about. I don't got nuthin' to sell."  
>He looked at me suspiciously, not believing this. "Turn out your pockets."<br>"What're you nuts? I ain't turning out everything just 'cause you think I'm pawning off stolen drugs or something!"  
>"I said turn out your pockets, or I'll empty them for you!"<br>"Just ya try it – you don't got no grounds to search me, you try it and I'll have ya on assault. Won't be the first what's tried it," I added viciously, improvising on the spot. "Din't ya ever hear what happened to Officer Maloney?"  
>"There is no Officer Maloney," he sneered at me.<br>"So whatcha think happened to him when he tried to search me, huh?"  
>Some of the sneer fell of his face, but he kept his trying-to-be-officious attitude and again insisted. "I said empty the pockets. All of them. Right now. Or I take you in for peddling stolen tickets."<br>"Stolen tickets!" I almost yelped. "Whatcha say something like that for? Kid could get in serious trouble tryin' to sell stolen tickets! What d'ya take me for, an idiot? I ain't stupid enough to get messed up in that!"  
>"Thanks, kid," he grinned at me. "Now you've proved you know something about this scheme, you can tell me where to find the real culprits."<br>"I don't know nuffin about 'em, truthful like! I just overheard it in the pub, some kids were talking bout gutting others with these tickets. I dint see 'em, dunno who they were, that's all I heard!"  
>I wasn't going to direct him anywhere near any of the others – that would have gone against the Code.<br>"So you've overheard it... which makes you a witness to a crime. Know what that means, kid? That means I can have you hauled up to the station to give a testimony."  
>"I can't do that! I said I'd meet me mates here! They'd go spare if they thought I'd bailed on 'em! Then me mam'll be here to pick the lot of us up after that, and if she don't see me I'm gonna be for it!" I can get very creative when I'm trying to get rid of a copper.<br>I started to look around him, up and down the streets. I was still out of sight of the cameras, and it looked like there was no one else around – for now. What I had in mind was extremely risky, since it was broad daylight.  
>"Think your imaginary friends are just going to turn up now you're so desperate to get out of a trip to the station? Got something to hide, have we?"<br>"No," I replied. "I've got you to get rid of." Then I hit him between the nose. This did not have the effect I wanted, but it did send him reeling. While it was still clear, I got behind him and shoved him into the alley nearby, then sent the head against the wall.  
>Unfortunately, that's where the upper hand stopped being mine. He was bigger than I was, maybe he was out of shape like most coppers, but he was still older and easily overpowered me. I was plucked off his back and thrown into a nearby dumpster. I didn't bother to try and fight, it was clear that alone I wasn't going to achieve anything now I'd lost the element of surprise.<br>So instead I scrambled back to my feel, smirked and said, "Catch me if you can," then fled further into the alleyways. Broadway has a massive network of alleyways and tiny back streets. You can turn corners down there and get so lost that you have to get even more lost before you find any main streets.  
>The cop chased me, grabbing a radio from his belt to call for support. Now I was in trouble. If I couldn't lose him, I'd be swimming in the coppers.<br>I could run faster than he could, but he knew these alleys better than I did. In the end it was clear I was going to have to do something.  
>Something jabbed me in the ribs as if in answer to that. It was the pistol, of course. I'd completely forgotten about it up until now, and it wasn't something I wanted to remember. It <em>was<em> a solution, but...  
>Over my shoulder I heard the response come in on his radio. Support was coming. I had to do something. So with some regret, I pulled it out, muttered a brief oath I'd never do this again, then stopped, turned and I shot him. It sounded incredibly loud in the confines of the narrow alley we were in, and everything else seemed to become totally silent.<br>He stumbled back, his momentum keeping him going a few more steps before he stopped, clutching at his front. When he removed the hand, a red blossom had begun to grow underneath the shirt.  
>"The one day I don't wear a bulletproof vest," he croaked, then collapsed with a long, gurgling sigh.<br>I'd just shot him. It hit me hard. I'd defeated tons of Heartless, even a few bunches of Nobodies, but nothing came close to killing an actual, living person.  
>Sound started to come back to me, telling me there was activity coming this way. I quickly stashed the pistol back in the jacket and continued the way I had been going until I finally came to the normal streets, then slowed and tried to look normal as I made my way back to the alley entrance I'd been hanging around in front of.<br>Several patrol cars shot past, followed by an ambulance and two fire engines, all of them with sirens screaming. I tried to keep myself calm, reminding myself that it was, I hoped, a long way from here. If they asked, there was no way I could possibly have been involved, and anyway, where would I have gotten a gun from? I quickly slunk back into the alleyway and stuffed the pistol as deep into one of the overflowing dumpsters as I could. I didn't want to think about it.  
>To my relief, despite the mass of activity, not a single officer ever came near, let alone ask me any questions so I started calm down. I managed to sell off the rest of the tickets, including the real one, with only an hour to spare before the cinema would close down everything so all the special treatment and stuff could be set up.<br>With my sales done, I headed to the cinema itself, and took up the prearrange place outside, leaning against the building opposite so we'd have the perfect view of the lobby. Whisper and Tommy were already there, but there was no sign of Sparky yet.  
>"How'd you guys do?" I asked them.<br>"Sold clean out," Tommy replied. "Went like hot cakes. Had to pretend I was sold out a few times though."  
>"Yeah, I got the same," Whisper nodded. "Couldn't tell 'em I had more'n a few tickets or they'd have gotten suspicious. Got a nice catch outta it."<br>"Did you hear the gunshot earlier on?" Tommy asked then. "Coppers came down swarming over it." I said nothing. I'd put it from my mind and tried not to think about it, now he'd reminded me...  
>"You alright there, Rocky?" Sparky asked, having snuck up on us without being noticed. "You look like someone's walked over your grave."<br>"It was you, wasn't it?" Tommy said shrewdly. "The shot we heard-"  
>"Alright, yes, it was me," I snapped. "I couldn't get rid of him, so I did it. Can we stop talking about it now?"<br>"First time's always the hardest," he murmured, then we went back to watching the cinema, and the first of the ticket-holders make their way in. The tickets were not collected this time, as long as they were shown on the way in, no one paid any attention to them. From our distant viewpoint, it looked more like any ticket would have done.  
>Then a larger group of people came in, and there were a few curious expressions from the staff, but they too were admitted.<br>"Anyone care to bet on how long it'll be before two people want the same seat?" I asked casually.  
>"Fifty bucks says with the next group of people what turn up," Sparky said.<br>"I'll put the same on the group after," Whisper added.  
>"Tommy?" I asked.<br>"Not me, my friend," he laughed. "I'm not the betting kind. You indulge yourself."  
>"I reckon it'll be any moment now," I said then, taking out a fifty from my own profits.<br>"Do you know something we don't?" Whisper asked, looking at me suspiciously.  
>"Me?" I answered with angelic innocence. "Inside knowledge? Of course not."<br>There was an angry disturbance at the doors to the main cinema screen, and two people came out bickering with each other.  
>"My seat!" one of them objected loudly. "It says right here on my ticket it's mine!"<br>"And I'm telling you, this one says it's mine! I was here first!"  
>"Cough up," I said with a smirk as the manager moved to head off the argument.<br>"Alright, just how did you know?" Whisper demanded.  
>I shrugged. "Lucky guess, actually. Only downside is they'll start checking the tickets in more detail now."<br>"Don't worry about that," Tommy assured me. "It's in the cinema's hands now. We've done our part. Time for us to go, before anyone there recognises us."  
>I glanced back as we left, noticing that with the arrival of several more people a few more arguments had broken out, then hurried to join them. For the first con trick it hadn't been all that complex, but it'd been effective, and it had netted us a nice profit too. It'd keep us from having to steal so much for a time.<p> 


	14. Unexpected Interruption

"Did they ever catch you?" Xion asked almost eagerly.  
>"What for?" Roxas replied,<br>"The fake ticket scam."  
>"Eh, well, there's-" Roxas broke off as both Sparky and Whisper burst in.<br>"Boss, we gotta problem!" Sparky told them. "Our friend the Inspector's at the end of the road, coming fast!"  
>"Everyone to the rooftop," Tommy told them curtly. "Roxas, you too. Xion, Axel – if you come, you come under our terms and our rules. Stay and you'll have to find your way back to us again."<br>"I'm coming," Xion said firmly. "Axel?"  
>"What am I meant to say to that? I'm coming with you to keep you out of trouble at least."<br>"Zombies on the roof!" Whisper's call came back down.  
>"Leave it to me," Axel said then. "You lot take cover. Xion, stay with me and don't say anything unless you have to."<br>"What're you doing, Axel?" Roxas demanded.  
>"Getting you out of trouble," he answered. "Don't just stand there, hide!"<br>Everyone looked to Tommy. He hesitated for a moment, then looked to Roxas. When Roxas nodded, he did the same. Whisper then darted into the room opposite, Sparky shot out of view to one side and Tommy ducked into the chest that Axel had been sitting on.  
>"You too," Axel told Roxas, who'd remained in plain view.<br>"Are you sure about this?"  
>"Trust me."<br>"I had a feeling you'd say that," he muttered, then tugged on a bit of wall by a whited-out window. It had appeared to be a part of the rest of the wall, but turned out to be neatly designed to move aside. Roxas squeezed through the narrow gap, replacing the wall after him.  
>"What can we do?" Xion asked Axel.<br>"Improvise. I'm not about to let them take Roxas from us after all the trouble we just went through to find him."  
>"We? I found him, you just got invited along!"<br>"This is not the time for that!" he hissed. "They'll be here any minute!"  
>The door downstairs was heard opening. It wasn't locked, so there was no need for this Inspector to break it in, whoever they were. Just afterwards there were heavy footsteps from above, and after that a soldier Axel recognised as one of Akira's own stood in the doorway with a gun pointed at them.<br>"Put that down," Axel told him. "You could hurt someone with it."  
>"I agree with him," a new voice said, female and clearly used to command. "Axel is no threat to us. Stand down and continue to search the premises." Then she came into view, wearing a uniform similar to those of the soldiers, but unarmed. "And Miss Xion too. What are you two doing here, I wonder?"<br>"Looking for Roxas," Axel replied. "If you really work for Akira, you know that."  
>"As I recall, he told you to remain within his custody for your own safety, and not to venture outside without anyone of his. Yet here I find you with another youth for which we have only your word is one of your Organization."<br>"Xion was sent here by Xemnas to find Roxas. He wants us to get him back as soon as possible. I can't ignore his orders."  
>"And did you find him?"<br>"No. We just missed him."  
>"Isn't that a shame? So what, pray tell, have you been doing here for so long? You were seen entering the building together some time ago, but you never left. Then an individual we know as Rocky, known to be suspiciously similar to your Roxas, was spotted leaving. He found an undercover agent at the takeaway on the corner, who graciously gave him the food he'd been ordering – an order placed for six. The four in his gang, and you two."<br>"You knew they were here, didn't you?" Xion seethed. "It was a set up."  
>"We had some idea you would lead us to them, yes," she admitted. "It was a simple matter to have one of our hired agents slip a locator into one of your pockets as you left the tower."<br>Xion searched her pockets, then pulled out what appeared to be a small grey bead.  
>"Yes," the inspector said. "That's it."<br>"You bugged me! Why?"  
>"Because you lead us to the gang, and now they are either hiding here, or on the run. They will be found here, or at the blockade we have around the area, caught and arrested. As, I am afraid to say, are the two of you. It's quite clear you sympathise with these obnoxious brats, and I wouldn't be surprised to find you, Axel, came with us only to slip information to them through Xion."<br>"That's absurd," Axel scoffed. "None of us had ever been to this world before Roxas and I arrived here, how could we have set something up without knowing anything about it?"  
>"It's true that makes the story a little hard to fit. But I'll fabricate something if I have to. One more solved case to my record, and another blow to the so-called Alliance and its reputation. All in all, a good day's work."<br>A solider came up to her and saluted. "No sign, ma'am. These two are the only ones here."  
>"Take them into custody," she commanded. "Take them to East Side station and put them in separate cells. If there aren't two free cells, make some."<br>"Yes ma'am!" the soldier saluted, then they quickly moved to cuff both Axel and Xion, escorting them out of the building.  
>The entire building was silent for a time afterwards. Tommy was the first to appear, cautiously pushing the lid of the chest open a ways.<br>"All clear boys," he said eventually in a loud, clear tone. "They got Axel and Xion."  
>"I heard," Roxas said, shoving the wall back out so he could squeeze back into view. "We gotta go after them."<br>"East Side is a dangerous place, Roxas," he warned.  
>"We can handle it," Sparky said, coming into view. "We just gotta stop by and get Rue and his mates to lend a hand."<br>"And I know a few of the Megas that'll be willing to help too," Whisper added. "We can get them to distract the folks up there to draw focus away from us. Rue and his guys can come with us to handle anything we can't."  
>"We can do it, boss," Roxas insisted. "Just let us try."<br>Tommy considered it. "We get only one shot at this," he said eventually. "We have no safehouses in East Side, no allies except what we bring with us, and no tech unless we bring it with us. If we get in too deep, we're pulling out. I want that understood, or none of us are going."  
>"Hearing ya loud'n clear, boss," Sparky said. "Let's go give 'em hell up there!"<p>

Axel was separated yet again, this time from both Roxas and Xion, and to make it worse he was still under orders not to use a dark corridor except to leave, and not to leave without Roxas. He was stuck in yet another cell, with Xion only just down the corridor from him and there was nothing he could do.  
>This cell was further different from the last one he'd been in because there were no bars at all – just a solid wall and a reinforced metal door. The criminals in these cells were obviously trusted even less than those in the last prison they'd thrown him in.<br>The door clicked twice, then clunked.  
>"What now?" he snapped peevishly at the door as it swung open.<br>"Well, hello to you too," Roxas whispered. "Come on out, quick – Sparky's disabled the alarms, but they're pretty advanced stuff – we don't know how long he can keep them that way."  
>Axel didn't need telling twice, almost jumping off the low bed to get out of the cell. Roxas made a rude gesture at the camera in one corner recording the activities, then locked it again.<br>"Which way?" Axel asked him.  
>"C'mon. Just follow me'n keep your voice quiet like."<br>"What about Xion?"  
>"Just move, will ya! We don't got all night!"<br>"But-"  
>Roxas stopped, turned and held him against the wall.<br>"I don't know what's happening right now bout her. We're all kinda busy right now. I'm getting you out, Whisper's getting Xion out, Tommy's covering Sparky, and Rue's keeping the night guard busy. We don't got time for this, and if them alarms go off, we're both up the crack, hear? Now follow me and not a sound!"  
>Then he let go and started back down the corridor again, keeping a wary eye on the other cells. Axel stood for a few moments to collect himself after that little outburst, then followed. At every junction Roxas slowed further, becoming very jumpy as he checked them in all directions before continuing.<br>They made it out into an office with three officers in. Two were unconscious on the ground, the other was held up against one wall by a kid in white, a first poised ready to strike the terrified officer.  
>"Trouble?" Roxas asked him.<br>"Not if they know what's good for them," the kid smirked. "I had a word with my mates. Head to our training hall – two streets west, one south. Saban's taking Whisper and Xion there already. Once Xion's there safely, Whisper will wait outside for you so you'll know the place."  
>"Aren't ya coming, Rue?"<br>"Tommy wants me to keep these guys busy until he and Sparky get back. But head outside, Old Tom is there."  
>"One of your boys?"<br>"Nah, just a friend. You'll recognise him easily, he's the one who looks like a kid biker. Good luck," he added as they headed outside.  
>Old Tom did indeed look like a biker that had become unusually young, younger even than Roxas himself. He didn't say anything, just nodded to them, pointed which way and started along. Now they were outside, they didn't exactly hurry, but they went as quick as they dared without attracting attention.<br>"Can't we run?" Axel complained under his breath. "This is making me nervous."  
>"Some feat, mister I don't have a heart," Roxas replied. "Anyway, think how I feel – I'm gonna get in more trouble cause I just busted you outta there."<br>"Roxas, could you at least try to talk normally again? Hearing you sound like them-"  
>"I <em>am<em> one of them," Roxas interrupted. "Least until you here the rest of the story and we go back. You get me back to normal when things go back to normal."  
>"Company," Old Tom said laconically. A patrol car up ahead with four officers leaning on it, having a drink. "Let me."<br>"Is that really necessary?"  
>"Think about it, Axel," Roxas said as Old Tom ran on ahead. "You've just been arrested, and I'm pretty much a wanted criminal anyway. You really want to stop and chat with them?"<br>"Point taken."  
>Old Tom gave a warlike yell as he closed on the officers, who glanced up, dropped their drinks then reached for their belts, but by then it was already too late. One had been headbutted between the legs, and the one beside was yanked down by the same spot painfully. The other two stepped away, discarding the half-drawn batons for their tazers, but Old Tom had other ideas. He jumped onto one, driving him to the ground, then pulled his tazer off him and shot the other officer with it. One last punch to the face of each ensured they were out for the count.<br>"Invigorating," Old Tom noted as he rejoined them.  
>"Was the yell really necessary?"<br>"Look of it," Old Tom explained.  
>"I must be getting used to you and all your friends, Roxas," Axel remarked. "I think I even understood that one."<br>"It gets easier as you deal with us more. I doubt the area will stay quiet after that. We'd better move quicker."  
>"I thought you'd never ask."<br>They continued on, following Old Tom's directions. He took them on a slightly longer route, past the original turn so they'd double back and come at it from the other side in case of any pursuit, then they came into view of a fitness centre on the corner of one block. Whisper was waiting for them outside. Old Tom gave Whisper a nod, then went his own way.  
>"You guys are late," he accused. "Tommy, Sparky'n Rue are here already."<br>"Our guide decided to take us on a detour. Are we safe here?"  
>"Sure thing. Rue talked 'em into letting us stay for a bit. C'mon in, I'll show ya where we're staying for now."<br>"Tell me it's not the gym. I couldn't stand having to be in with stuff like that."  
>"Don't ya like getting fit?" Whisper teased.<br>"I get all the work out I need running around with you guys, thanks."  
>Whisper laughed, then showed them through several unlabelled doors and into what was definitely a bedroom. Everyone was there, with Rue included.<br>"Roxas!" Xion exclaimed, giving him a crushing hug. "You're safe!"  
>"Yeah, so am I," Axel muttered.<br>"Sorry Axel. I didn't mean to leave you out." Then she gave him a similar hug.  
>"Hush now," Rue murmured. "You've got this room, but on the condition you keep it down – especially during the daytime. The staff that run this place don't know it's here, so you'll have to keep it extra quiet. Now I hear you're recounting your adventures in our city, Rocky. Mind if I listen in too?"<br>"Curious, are we?" Roxas asked.  
>"Hey, it's not every day we get to see an outsider's view of the city from our side of things. You can't blame me."<br>"If Tommy doesn't mind, then neither do I. Where'd I get to?"  
>"You'd just finished the fake ticket scam," Xion answered promptly. "And you were telling us if you ever got caught."<br>"You know that inspector you two saw back at HQ? She's the one who's been trying to nail us for it. Except obviously, she hasn't managed it yet. So, let's see... what happened next..."


	15. Roxas's tale, part 10

We returned to our room in the Lion's Den, to catch a short break – long ones are always risky, even with one of us keeping watch. Tommy gathered in our profits from my little con trick, subtracted the cut for our forger and split the rest between us before he left to go and pay said forger.  
>While we waited for him to return, we decided it was high time we had a decent meal and so headed down into the pub itself to get one. Two good things about this are the food was on the house thanks to Tommy, and there's never a lack of gossip in the place. Drinks cost, but since we were all minors and not exactly allowed anything alcoholic, the stuff we could have was more reasonably priced. Besides, we were sort of well-off now with the earnings. We might not put so much emphasis on money as others, but there is just no way even we could work without it.<br>Naturally, this being Broadway, news of what had happened was the order of the day. Some said that the tickets had been a printing error, others said it had been a staff member not paying attention who'd done it twice without realizing he'd already done it. One or two of the other patrons seemed to have heard the rumour about the kids selling tickets, making us wary just in case anyone recognised us, but it became apparent after a time that none of them had any idea who these four enterprising kids had been. Certainly no one suspected us – after all, we might have been kids, but we were respectable, responsible and above all paying customers. So long as we didn't splash out too much, not a problem.  
>Not everything went with that rosy little idea though. As talk of the ticket scam grew scarcer with each repeating, other matters started to come up – like the dead police officer found shot. I froze when I heard it, since I'd put it from my mind after leaving the cinema, and just the mention of it reminded me of what I'd done. Sparky jabbed me in the side to get my attention so I didn't look so stupid at least, but I'd lost a fair bit of my appetite all the same.<br>Like it or not, I did listen in to find out what consequences had come of the incident. Apparently I'd been seen from one of the other stores nearby, though the description given was woefully inadequate for finding me. On the other hand, after I'd left several forensics officers had come to the area and found the pistol. Not so good, and potentially a lead they might be able to use to find me.  
>Worse luck yet, they had one Chief Inspector Eliza Cahartez on the case, widely reputed never to have had a failure on her record, known to do everything she could to make the worst of the Alliance and incriminate them as much as possible, and about as ready to give up as a bulldog is ready to let go when its found something worth biting. The very definition of Big Trouble for anyone in the Alliance. She alone had caused more members to be arrested than anyone else, with or without help.<br>She was known as the Inspector, simply because she was the only one who dared take on the Alliance without fear of retribution, determined to do anything to discredit us. Others had tried, but not been prepared for the swift reactions that would inevitably follow, or had failed to manage anything because of the Code and our stubborn refusal to work with or even trust them.  
>With the Inspector on my tail it surely wouldn't be long until she discovered the involvement with the ticket scam, and then I'd be in some real trouble. At least the Alliance would help out – anything to make the first bad mark on her record, Tommy told me once he joined us and we filled him in.<br>"Not here though," he told us. "We'll head south to the border of the combat zone. Risky, but she'll likely not come close without some kind of guard or escort, and that'll tip us off."  
>We didn't waste any time clearing up the last of our meals. They were likely to be the last good ones we'd get for some time if we were taking our chances in the combat zone, or even on the edge of it. But it was a risk we'd have to take to try and get rid of the Inspector.<br>It took us most of the next day to reach the questionable safe-house he located for us. Once it had been the site of a small security camera business, but such small businesses usually did not last long in King City and were bought out by the big fat-cat corporations who did not like competitors undercutting their prices. The market in King City is ruthless when it comes to competition.  
>In this case it had not been bought out, but burnt out sometime in the past. From the outside, the upper floor appeared to have escaped most of the damage the lower floor showed signs of, but with the windows all covered over with metal instead of boards, we had to go inside to find out anything about the insides.<br>Much of the interior had remained intact, along with a great deal of their wares. Sparky and Whisper immediately went to work fixing it all up and creating a far more secure safe-house than it had first appeared.  
>The upper floor appeared to have been opened into one vast storeroom for all these wares, though in places the structural damage left the floor unstable to stand on. What they couldn't fix or use for parts were carefully arranged so that to the untrained eye it was just so much haphazardly arranged junk, but to us it was a series of marks that showed where not to step.<br>The place gave us little in the way of furniture however, limited to only two office chairs and the remains of one desk that had felt the effects of whatever fires had tried to ravage the place, but remained just intact enough to remain standing and support most things left on it. This would be one of our roughest temporary homes so far.  
>Once we had some rudimentary systems set up to keep an eye on any unwelcome guests, Tommy and I headed upstairs and began to pick our way around the known unstable patches, examining the various items stored up there for anything worth trading off. What we found put trading far from our minds though.<br>We heard a kind of snuffling sound from one corner of the room. As Whisper was keeping watch downstairs and Sparky was in plain sight tinkering with something he'd dug out of one of the piles, we knew it was none of us. Tommy and I shared a wary look, then headed quietly over to investigate.  
>In the corner of the room there were stacks of old TV units, meant to show what some security camera was seeing. There were a lot of them, arranged in neat layers with metal sheets between each layer of them. Right up against one wall, some of the metal had been cut away, and those TVs that had been there removed to leave a kind of small door. It was dark enough as it was up there with only a few functioning light bulbs – we were amazed enough that it was still hooked up to the city's power grid, let alone that any of them still worked. But inside this cubby hole was too dark to see by. The snuffling was definitely coming from deeper in, and it sounded like the snuffler was human.<br>Tommy gestured for me to wait for him there, then headed back toward Sparky. Along the way he paused, examining something he spotted that I couldn't see, then he came back and handed me a small torch. The things people leave behind in those places, it's kinda amazing actually.  
>With the light it provided I could see the cubby hole went right the way back to the corner, then turned the corner and went on.<br>"I'll take a look," I whispered to Tommy.  
>"Be careful," he warned me. "Especially on the edges of the metal – those are rough cuts, they'll hurt if you snag on them."<br>I just nodded, getting down on hands and knees just to get in the small gap, then keeping on the wall side so I was less likely to catch those jagged metal edges as I went on into this makeshift kind of tunnel.  
>When I got to the corner I saw it went back a ways, then turned again, and when I got to that turn I saw there was another, but a shorter distance ahead. There were small tufts of various materials snagged on the metal edges here, and at the edges of the tunnel were small lines of metal dust and shards, probably from where the metal had been cut. There was more normal dust over the whole of the floor of the tunnel though, much of it with clear signs of being shifted recently. Someone or something came through here often.<br>When I turned that last corner it opened into a small hollow surrounded not by TVs, but bits of wood that had been set in place to line the walls. There was only a tiny amount of light coming in through what few small gaps there were, barely enough to see by had I not had the torch.  
>With its bright light, I clearly saw there was a young boy curled up against one of the larger bits of wood in what appeared to be a large dressing gown. He was sleeping without any knowledge that I was there, though it appeared to be a fitful sleep. I carefully tugged back the gown to examine him closer, noticing he wasn't exactly clean. There were slightly cleaner streaks down his cheeks that suggested he'd been crying, so evidently he hadn't been having a good life. How he'd ended up here was anyone's guess, let alone how he managed to survive this close to the combat zone.<br>There was just enough room to turn around there, so I carefully did so and made my way back out again, knowing Tommy would be waiting to hear what I'd found.  
>"There's a boy in there," I whispered to him, not wanting to wake our additional resident. "Looks pretty young, doesn't look like things have gone well for him. If he's the one what done all this, I'd say he's been here a while. He's made himself like a little den in there."<br>"What do you think we should do?"  
>"I reckon if we leave him, when he wakes up he'll be mighty surprised to find we've moved in, and the way he looks I don't reckon that'd be good. Who knows what he could do? I reckon we should help him out. Take him in, look out for him and give him what he needs."<br>"You realize if I go with this, the kid is your responsibility. I brought you in, taught you what you needed to know, if you bring him in..." He didn't need to finish the sentence.  
>"Lets see how he reacts first," I replied. "Maybe he won't want to be a part of what we do. But the least we can do is give him the same choice you gave me."<br>"Fair enough – but he's still yours to take care of, remember."  
>"I know. Don't go anywhere. I'll be back with him in a few moments. Possibly."<br>So I turned around one more time and headed back in, this time to wake up what could end up being the fifth member of our little gang – if he wanted to join us, that was. But was there any reason he wouldn't? I wouldn't find out until I woke him up, and that in itself was going to be risky without knowing how he'd react.


	16. Roxas's tale, part 11

Since the kid was my responsibility, I took it slower heading back into his den so I'd have time to think ahead and plan out what I'd do. There was no doubt that this would be a surprise to him, but hopefully I could calm him enough to explain. I paused on the way to ensure both the two knives Tommy had given me back on my first day were not visible – I didn't want to give the kid the wrong impression.  
>When I reached him again, he'd shifted around, the gown now covering him completely. Only a few small movements indicated any sign of life underneath them, as the sound of his breathing had gone now. I warily pulled back the gown again where I judged his head was, only to find a small hand dart out and grab my wrist as I uncovered him.<br>I won't forget that moment easily, even more so now I know the truth about him. He looked no different to how he had just moments before, but was completely awake, his expression as harsh as his eyes, green, cold and hard.  
>There was something about him that just wasn't right. None of the rest of us had made all that much noise, and the kid had definitely been out for the count when I first found him. I couldn't have woken him up, it had to have been natural – but did that mean he'd been faking sleep when I first disturbed him? Could anyone fake sleep that well?<br>"Don't be alarmed," I told him. "I'm here to help you."  
>"How do you think you're going to help me?" he murmured in a quiet, but strangely adult way that took me by surprise.<br>"It's obvious you're living rough like us. Why not come with us?"  
>"What for?"<br>"We look out for each other, help each other. Besides, you can get a lot more done with friends."  
>He appeared to consider it for a time, then let go of my hand.<br>"Maybe. We'll see. Get out. I'll follow you, so don't try anything."  
>His abrupt manner had me starting to wonder if I'd really made the right choice here. There was definitely something about him that wasn't right, and I had a feeling it would come back later and bite us in the rear.<br>Tommy was leaning against the wall nearby when we emerged again, looking curious.  
>"Well?" he asked me.<br>"See for yourself," I answered, moving clear as the little kid stood up. He was shorter than any of us, barely half my own height. Clearly he was younger than I thought he was. Interestingly, he was already dressed similarly to us, even wearing a dark blue shirt with the lion's head on. He wore no jacket though, and all his clothes had small nicks and tears from the metal, not to mention dirt marks all over.  
>"Who're you?" the kid demanded.<br>"I'm the one in charge here. We can get to names later though."  
>Our new friend had other ideas though, snatching the torch off me to see Tommy better.<br>"I know you. You're the one who organized the paintball shooting for those guys at the University, aren't you?" Without waiting for an answer, he shone the torch on me and added, "And you're the one they're all looking for. There's a hefty reward on your head, mate. Not that they'll find you with the descriptions they're circulating."  
>"I hope you don't plan on trying to turn us in," I said.<br>"Me? Be serious. What would I do with the reward money? It's not like I can get someplace to stay without having to go through all the adults, right?" Tommy started to gnaw on one knuckle – a clear sign he was having serious concerns with the kid, and not something done lightly. He kept them to himself for now though. He was my responsibility, and if the others had a complaint about it they'd bring it to me while he wasn't around.  
>"Stay with Rocky," Tommy told him. "He'll teach you what you need to know and such." Then to me, "Keep him out of trouble. I'll let the others know about this. You know what to do?"<br>"Same as what you done for me, except no need for the Nobody stuff."  
>"Nobody stuff?" the kid asked curiously. "What's that?"<br>"Rocky will tell you when he's ready," Tommy replied, not taking his eyes off me. He conveyed a great deal of concern in that one look, and it was one I was starting to share. I kept it from showing, mostly by backsliding a bit – returning to how I normally was, to Roxas I guess you could say.  
>"You got a name?" I asked him as Tommy left.<br>"Sure thing. I get called Calix. So what have you got to teach me?"  
>Truth be told, I wasn't as sure as I sounded. Tommy had told me that this Calix wasn't one of us until he decided he wanted to be, and I was fairly certain that he'd have to earn approval from Tommy before he'd actually be let in. That meant teaching him the Code was out.<br>Since he, unlike me, was a native to the city, there wasn't much point in telling him the way things were. That left only the tricks of the trade, and I was somewhat hesitant about passing them on while I had the nagging feeling he wasn't all he seemed to be.  
>I had to start somewhere though, so as we started to head to the stairs I answered, "For now? How to survive like this."<br>"I know that already," he snorted. "Think I've lived this long without learning something?"  
>"There's a difference between doing it alone and with friends," I told him reprovingly. "If you can't do something yourself, you've got them to call on, and if they can't help they might know someone who can. You can pull off more elaborate schemes when you've got help too."<br>"Like what? Set up a fake cinema ticket scam?"  
>Where had he heard about that – and just how had he heard about it so quickly? We'd only just pulled it off the day before. While news can travel quick in King City, to think it could find its way to him down here when it had taken us the better part of the day to get here...<br>"Where did you get that idea?" I asked him warily.  
>"First one to mind," he replied casually. "Why, did you actually do that?"<br>"I think we're getting into an area I can't talk about yet," I covered quickly. "At least, not until you're really one of us."  
>"And how do I get to be one of you?"<br>"First you got to prove you're trustworthy. Then you've got to try and show you've got something useful to contribute. Then when I think you're ready, we go to the boss and see what he says."  
>"What if he says no?" he persisted, taking one of my hands to steady himself on the stairs. He wasn't quite tall enough to reach the hand rail. I did notice he had an unusually strong grip for someone his size. The feeling something was wrong grew stronger again.<br>"I guess you either get to try again, or find another gang to join. I'd say probably the second."  
>"Guess I've got to be useful then. How many of you guys are there, anyway?"<br>"Four. You saw the boss first. The little guy we passed up there is our resident tech expert. The last one is pretty much a sneak-theif. He can probably steal anything."  
>"You're not gonna tell me their names?"<br>"Not unless the boss says otherwise. You know mine, but you're my responsibility for now, so that's probably why."  
>"Aren't you even slightly curious why he told me yours?"<br>"I trust him," I answered simply. "If he decides you should know, then that's good enough for me. We're just going round the block," I told Tommy as we passed. "Keep an eye out for any trouble spots."  
>He nodded, then said, "Have a look into any local gangs while you're at it. I'd like to know who our neighbours are around here. Be careful though, some gangs don't like it when others go into what they consider their territory without their leave."<br>"Hey, this is me we're talking about," I grinned back. "You really expect me to run into anything I can't handle?"  
>"Well don't make this the first time, hear? We'll have chow by the time you get back," he added as the door closed.<br>"Where's he going to get food down in a dump like this?" Calix asked, back to his incessant questions.  
>"Dunno, don't care. Food's food. Don't turn your nose up at it, 'cause there's no telling how long it'll be until the next meal. Surely you've learned that, living alone like you say you have?"<br>"Uh... sure. I just forgot about it while I was learning about you guys. What kind of trouble are we looking for?"  
>"Anything that could be a threat, zombies, fuzz and anything else. Keep your eyes open and stay alert. You never know what could pop up next."<br>"Never anything like that down here, and I should know, I've been here for ages."  
>"Nothing stays the same forever. Look sharp – end of the road." Two people in neat suits, undoubtedly zombies. "I'll be they've not been here for long," I added.<br>"How can you tell?"  
>"They're too neat. Either they've only just arrived, or they've got some serious fire-power hidden just out of sight. This is the edge of the combat zone, after all. No one comes here without being prepared for a fight."<br>"They're harmless. I've seen guys like that before. Even talked with them a few times. Never any trouble, some of the ones that come down he regularly even give me stuff to keep me going and ask what's going on."  
>That sent alarm bells ringing. Calix hadn't even heard the Code, and already he'd violated the biggest rule of the lot – he'd consorted with the Corporates. There was no way we could trust him, not now we knew this.<br>But out loud, I said, "It never hurts to be too careful. You never know, maybe the won't be so friendly to the rest of us."  
>"You wait, I'll show you. You've got to meet them, they're just good friends."<br>Before I could stop him, he'd already run on ahead. There was no point in trying to hide, not since they'd already seen us. I had little choice but to go after him, though there was no real hurry. Besides, if things turned nasty on me, I wanted to have plenty of room between me and them as a head start when I headed the other way.  
>Calix's friendly zombies had other ideas though, coming to meet me half way.<br>"So you're Rocky," one of them said, looking me over. "Calix says you're a new friend he's made."  
>"Something like that, yeah," I replied cautiously, not wanting to give away anything. That I had to talk to these goons was bad enough.<br>"Would you mind telling us about the others he mentioned are with you?"  
>"Yes." They waited, so I sighed and said, "That means yes, I do mind telling you."<br>"I'm sure we could make it worth your while." The offer of the bribe. Evidently their too-easy dealings with Calix had given them the stupid idea that I'd be the same way. Difference was of course, I wasn't going to break the Code.  
>"I'm sure I could shove your head down a toilet and still need to flush it when I took it out again for all the crap it would wash out," I replied without missing a beat, privately stunned at myself for what I'd said.<br>Tommy had been right when he'd suggested keeping Roxas and Rocky separate – the two were definitely becoming like their own different personalities, and the part of me that was Roxas couldn't believe how I was behaving. The rest of me was having too much fun to care by now.  
>"You don't have to be like that, Rocky," Calix told me. "They're not bad guys."<br>"Maybe not to you. I don't think I like them."  
>"You haven't even gotten to know them yet," he protested.<br>"Not likely to either. Don't trust adults in the slightest, especially not ones like these guys. I don't see no mark on them of which Corporation they represent, and there's one or two I'd rather avoid." More like all of them really.  
>"Kanza Arms," one of them supplied. "One of the biggest arms dealers in the city."<br>"Who runs it?" I asked.  
>"We don't have a CEO," the other replied. "We've noticed other corporations tend to reflect the CEO's interests only so we have a board of directors to replace them. None of them wants the rest to get their own plans any more than the others, so none of them can do anything except keep the corporation running." Not Akira's corporation then. If they'd given his name, that would have been the end of the conversation. But just because these weren't his people, didn't mean they didn't have some involvement with him in some way, and being an arms corporation, they were probably on good terms with everyone else as they supplied their weaponry.<br>"Still don't trust you," I told them. "Anyone what makes weapons... no good in my books. You can stick around with these guys if you want," I said to Calix. "But not with me at the same time. You can loose these guys if you're coming with me."  
>"And if we follow?" one of them inquired.<br>"Don't. You don't want to find out what happens to people who ignore that."  
>I turned my back on them and continued the original patrol route I'd set out for myself. I didn't need to know the area to make one, most of the city was arranged in square blocks. Turning my back on them on the other hand... especially given that they worked for an arms corp... it was a nervous walk away, to say the least.<br>Calix spoke briefly with the two zombies, then ran to catch up with me.  
>"You really don't like them, huh?" he asked as he caught up.<br>"No, and neither should you. Do you know what a snitch is?"  
>"Sure I do, why?"<br>"I'm not trying to be insulting, but that's what you are, and that's why they've given you stuff. They give you what you need, and you tell them things they need to know to catch people like me."  
>"Catch you for what?"<br>"For being a kid, for anything me or the gang have done, just because they feel like it, it doesn't matter to them. Adults are nearly all the same here, they're just going to keep on ignoring us or using people like you until the rest of us learn to stop rebelling against the system. And that'll never happen, not for as long as the Alliance still stands."  
>Calix didn't reply to that. Out of the corner of one eye, I noticed his harsher expression had returned, looking more disapproving. He didn't seem to think I could see that though.<p> 


	17. Roxas's tale, part 12

Calix and I continued on my planned route around the block. Three blocks actually, since I wanted to take a little extra care now I knew there were zombies in the area. Even though this was the edge of the combat zone, all buildings here showed the same signs. Falling down, damaged, burnt out or ruined. Nearly all of the visible walls had graffiti on time in some form, much of it running. Maybe once the gangs in the area had made their mark with it or done it for a joke, but now it wasn't worth the risk involved.  
>The west side of the block around our new safe-house was totally clear. Of course, since that was the side where we'd met Calix's friendly zombies, this is hardly surprising. In the east side of it however, there was activity in abundance. We found Doctor Kildare's current field camp, today's lucky number being 772, one block across and two up from where we were based. Calix refused to go anywhere near the place once I told him a little about Kildare.<br>Not far from there we encountered the Grey Wolves. I'd met one of them when I first met Kildare, being operated on if you remember. They were busy escorting a group of injured kids from another gang over to Kildare, keeping a close watch out for any threats. One patrol car saw them, the two officers inside getting out to fire on them. They reacted before the officers got a single shot off with deadly accuracy. After my hesitation with the single shot I'd taken, I was glad it hadn't been them I'd ended up with – I would have had some serious troubles if it came to doing that more often.  
>One of them paused long enough to talk with us, finding out what we were doing, who we were and such. People in the Alliance keep in touch and keep each other informed, because the sharing of that information is one of the many little things that keep us all alive. She let me know there was little of interest in this particular area, and suggested I go to the southern corner of the route I'd set for myself, even showing me on a map. This was because there was another gang in that area, the Black Guard, and naturally it's polite to pay a call on your neighbours so they know you're there.<br>Calix grew increasingly nervous as we got close to their territory, and when we saw their signature on the walls – a blue shield with a black stick figure on it – he took to staying behind me, using me as a shield.  
>"What's your problem?" I asked him, keeping a wary eye out myself. Not all gangs like unexpected guests, and technically that included us right now.<br>"I've heard stories," he replied tensely. "People go missing near the Black Guard's territories. They say they torture them, change them. We've- I mean, some of the Corporates have recovered people that got lost to the Black Guard before, and they came back acting like completely different people. Some were scared of everything up to their own shadow, others were acting like the Black Guard themselves. We don't want to be here, Rocky."  
>"They're a part of the Alliance, and when near another gang it's customary to let them know you're in the area. People in the Alliance might not always get on, the Megas and their continual infighting are show that, but so long as I explain why we're here, we'll be fine."<br>"I hope you're right. I don't want to end up the same way I keep hearing about. I don't want to see it for myself either."  
>I paused at an intersection, listening for a moment. Heavy music was coming from somewhere in the area, and the information the Grey Wolves had given me told me that this was where I should go. Once I had an idea of which way to go, I headed for it.<br>"We all have to do things we don't want to, Calix," I told him as we continued. "Even I done a few things I didn't want to. I've had to practically abandon my best friend, lie to him for the safety of the gang and the Code, shoot a copper... though that was necessary, if I hadn't done that, there would have been a ton more on top of me."  
>"That was you?" he asked, then clapped a hand over his mouth. He'd slipped up and not been able to cover it. My suspicions were growing a little more specific now.<br>"Calix, if you don't tell me just where you get your information from, I'm going to have to consider cutting you loose – leaving you to your own devices again."  
>"What? Here?" he yelped. "You can't do that, not here! The Black Guard could find me!"<br>"If you keep that up they'll find us before we find them, and I'd rather meet them on my terms."  
>"You can't do this to me, what about your boss?"<br>"You're my responsibility. If I make that choice, then as long as he knows why, it doesn't matter."  
>"But what about your Code? Doesn't that say anything about this?"<br>"You gotta have taken the Code before it applies to you, and you also don't get to take it if it's broke already."  
>Calix caught my meaning. "The Corporates. I can't take the Code because I helped them, right?"<br>"Exactly. There's a bit more too," I added giving him a speculative look over that seemed to worry him. "But it'll have to wait until I've talked to the boss." I looked up at the building we'd stopped beside. The windows were boarded up, though varicoloured lights shone through the gaps. You could feel the thump of the music just stood outside. "This sounds like the place," I said. "Stay close."  
>"Uh... Rocky?" he asked almost shyly. "Could I um... hold your hand? Just so I don't get separated at all."<br>Given his misgivings about the Black Guard, not an unreasonable request for someone as small as him.  
>Inside the building was like walking into a thunderstorm, except with more than one colour to it and a lot more people and sound. The Black Guard were your stereotypical punks, with spiked wristbands and chokers in abundance, a lot of black jackets, piercings and tattoos on the older members - which was most of them – and a lot of drugs being passed around. It was hard to say if the smoky atmosphere in there was because of the drugs being smoked, or some kind of smoke generator. I breathed shallowly in case it was the former.<br>After only a few steps inside, Calix tightened his hold on my hand. He really did not want to be here, and I was starting to share the feeling. As I took in their members, I started to notice more than just a few weapons being shown.  
>"Just where in here do we have to go?" Calix yelled to me so he'd be heard.<br>"The bar first," I answered in kind. "That's where we gotta ask for who we wanna see."  
>"Who's that?" he asked, but it was lost in the noise and my quickly getting us past an area where, to say the least, some members were... indulging others. In various ways.<br>The bar was of course packed, with all manner of drinks being served at it. I had to push my way through the crowds nearby it to find a clear spot, and the only spot I saw as safe considering I had Calix with me was the end of the bar, right by the wall. At least I'd be able to keep a lookout.  
>"You're not one of us," the punk acting as one of the bartenders said, taking a swig from a bottle of something luminous green. "You gotta pay, y'know. So what's your poison?"<br>"I want to talk to Latissa," I replied. The name of their gang's leader. I felt Calix's grip grow tighter again at the mention of her name and noticed the members nearby either move away, or surreptitiously reach for a weapon. Just in case.  
>"Latissa don't talk to no one," he replied, leaning on the bar. "Not to outsiders, and not less you got something to give us." He ran one finger under my chin and said, "I hear she's been looking for a new boy to play with."<br>I grabbed the hand and held it clear.  
>"You even think of trying that, and you ain't gonna hear the end of it. The boss won't stand for it."<br>"Oh yeah? And just who's your boss, huh?"  
>I hesitated for only a moment, remembering that Calix didn't know, but I'd have to take a chance. If Tommy didn't like it, too bad. I'd handle that later.<br>"I'm with Tommy. Golden Lions," I added, opening my jacket to show our gang's sign. The bottle in the bartender's hand dropped, caught just before it slipped from his hand entirely. Evidently Tommy's name had some clout in the Alliance. I'd had a few ideas that was the case after the initial discussion between him and Rue when I'd been taken in – the part about seeing the Oracle, to be exact – but I did not know it would have this kind of reaction.  
>"What's the business?" he asked me quietly. Or at least, as quietly as he could be while still being heard over the noise.<br>"That's between her and me, isn't it? 'course you could ask her if she'll let you stick around to find out, but you know what she's like."  
>"Stay here," he told me, then left. Calix tugged on my arm, so I leaned down to hear what he wanted.<br>"Do we really have to see her?" he asked. He looked afraid, a far cry from the harshly disapproving look he'd worn earlier. "I've heard stories about her too."  
>"Look around you, Calix. See anyone here you'd trust to tell her exactly what we want her to hear, without mangling it?"<br>"Well, no, but..." he couldn't seem to find the words.  
>The bartender came back at that point, this time on our side of the bar. "Latissa will see you now," he told me, then noticed Calix. "Is he-"<br>"Coming with us," I cut across everything. "I doubt you'd be able to prise him off me anyhow."  
>"Right. Fair enough. Just follow me then."<br>More members seemed to notice us on the way through this time, though we were given a wide berth. No more pushing through the crowds for us, whether because of the mention of our boss's name or theirs.  
>We were taken upstairs where the music was dulled down again. After having to go through that noise, everything else seemed a bit quieter. I could still feel my head pounding a bit from it. I don't know how they managed to stand it, though I guess that was probably one of the requirements to get in.<br>Our guide paused at a mirror to check his appearance, making some show of setting his hair in a mass of spikes. He glanced at me as if expecting me to comment, but I just stood waiting for him to move on. That didn't seem to go down well with him, but he wasn't why I was here.  
>He took us into a room that was much like a lounge, couches scattered around all over. There were only three others in the room – one I assumed was Latissa, lounging on one couch looking out a window to the floor below. On either side of her were two bigger punks who were probably there to smash things and no ask questions.<br>"I brought the kids," he told her.  
>"Kids?" she asked sharply. "You said there was only one."<br>"He wasn't aware of my younger friend here," I said. "Being short means you don't get noticed."  
>She focused on me with smouldering eyes, looked to Calix – who hid behind me – then back to me.<br>"Leave us, boys," she said. "These two are no threat. Go have a trip."  
>All three of the other members filed out around us. The two bigger ones leered at us on the way out. I stuck my tongue out at one of them as he passed.<br>"You can come out, little one," she told Calix. "You're too young for me anyway." This did not seem to help him at all, so she laughed, shaking her head. Besides her appearance, she was surprisingly... normal. "Come sit with me," she offered. "And tell me about yourself."  
>"I'll stand, thanks. It's not me I'm here about, anyway."<br>"Oh no? Tommy never told you about me, did he?" I just shook my head, and she laughed again. "Tommy and I... well, you could say we had a little something between us. Now there is a creative young man that knows how to entertain me. But he owes me a favour... a very specific favour. And you my little dear could be just that. So do tell me... just who are you two?"  
>"I'm Rocky, and this little scamp behind me is Calix. The real reason I'm here is to let you know we're in the area. Couple blocks north from here, and one west."<br>"The old security shop? Trust him to pick a place like that," she shook her head ruefully. "He knows I'm down here, you see. Except he doesn't trust me not to try and kidnap him to play a little more. I guess I can't blame him really, but he should know by now if he's in the area I'm going to try again."  
>"What's this favour you mentioned?" Calix asked, poking a head under the arm he was still holding onto as if it was life itself.<br>"Ah yes... you see when Tommy left me, it was on the condition that the next time I met one of his boys, it would be because he sent that boy to me... and the boy in question would have to... entertain me. And if Tommy's replacement couldn't satisfy me... well, he agreed that he'd come back then. I've been looking forward to that. And now here you are, turning up out of the blue as one of his..."  
>"He didn't send me to you Latissa. You could call this a courtesy call, I suppose."<br>"Oh, I know. But like I said, he knows this is where I can be found. He wouldn't mention that I'm here to you if you were just going out on the rounds to see who's there, because he knows the point you're trying to make – not sent means not part of the favour. But I don't accept that. He's here, and that means if he sends someone to look and they happen to come my way..."  
>"You treat it the same way. I'm not gonna get out of this, am I?"<br>"Oh, I don't know about that," she grinned slyly. "What do you have to offer, my Rocky friend?"  
>This was not going how I'd intended.<p> 


	18. Roxas's tale, part 13

Imagine what I was thinking by now. Here I am with a kid that has Corporate sympathies which I was trying hard to ignore at least until I could get back to Tommy to warn him and get his advice, and also stuck with the leader of the biggest punk gang in King City because of a deal made between her and Tommy, a leader that was treating my unexpected arrival as part of that deal and therefore making advances on me to try and entertain her. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out what kind of 'entertainment' she was talking about either.  
>With no apparent way out of this except to give her what she wanted, there was only one way I could answer her query about what I had to offer.<br>"I guess I got no choice," I told her resignedly. "I gotta give you what you want. But," I held up a finger. "I got a few conditions."  
>"Such as?" she asked archly, shifting position on her couch yet again to silently suggest I join her. Given that Calix was still practically glued to me and that he was still afraid of her, it wasn't an offer I was going to take up just yet.<br>"I've got to get this little guy back to Tommy, and I've got to fill him in on who's in the area and things like that. There's some things I want to talk about with him too."  
>"No problem. I'll have someone take him up there for you, and what you want to say can wait until he comes by to find you." So much for getting out that way. Now I thought quickly – I'd told her 'a few conditions', when there was actually only the one.<br>"Let him pick who goes with him then," I told her, trying to sound reluctant about it. "It took me long enough to convince him to come in with me after seeing a few of your members."  
>"Is there something wrong with them, little one?"<br>"Stop calling me that!" Calix snapped. "I have a name you know!"  
>"And a quick tongue to match. The question remains, Calix."<br>"I heard stories about the Black Guard and what they say you do to people. I've seen some of the people who come back after being lost to you. They're never the same."  
>Latissa nodded, "Your concern is well deserved then. Very well. Will you trust me to find two members who will only ensure you reach Tommy safely?"<br>"Nuh-uh. You heard Rocky's condition – I get to choose."  
>"The problem there is that you don't know any of them. I do."<br>Calix looked helplessly at me, so I said, "Alright. You probably won't get Calix to trust you, but I will... for this at least."  
>"Why Rocky, anyone would think you didn't trust me," she protested mildly.<br>"Let's just say I'm withholding judgement for now. My other condition is simple... I won't do your drugs, I don't drink, and you can keep your piercings to yourself. I like myself the way I am, thanks."  
>"Is that all? I think we have an acceptable agreement then. I'll have my people fill Tommy in on the local area and your whereabouts when they deliver Calix back to him. You can wait in here for me while I find him a pair of suitable escorts."<br>Maybe that'd give me the chance to make an escape from her. Calix gave up my hand very reluctantly as Latissa passed me, clearly showing he did not share my trust in her. Once they'd left the room, I waited a short time, then opened the door. Latissa was there waiting for me with a broad grin.  
>"I was just making sure you'd gone," I covered lamely.<br>"Of course," she agreed. We both knew the truth and didn't need to mention it. "Just be patient, Rocky. I can see you're eager to see if you can do better than your boss, but you really must wait."  
>Now that was just making things worse for me. Even Calix managed a little snicker at me as I closed the door again.<br>So now I was left alone in her lounge with nothing to do but wait for her to return shortly. So I did what any good kid trained by Tommy would have done – raid the room, see what's where, find out everything, but leave it looking the same way as it was before.  
>First, the room itself. The back wall had windows set in that showed the club-like scene below where Calix and I had been until we were brought up here. There were blinds on the windows, the kind with the rod that you twist to close or open them, but none to raise or lower them.<br>The other walls were barely visible. There was a small library in a bookcase on the wall behind the door, though the books looked like they weren't used all that often with a heavy layer of dust over them.  
>On the other side of that wall a massive flat screen TV was mounted, and underneath it was a mass of cables that led to all kinds of devices on the wall just beside them. Closer inspection revealed them to be either disc players, signal receivers or games consoles. A second set of shelves nearby hosted a library of movies and games, mixed together without much order. Either Latissa didn't care, or she wasn't the only one to use all this and her members didn't care.<br>The rest of the room appeared at first glance to be given over to wardrobes that were built into the walls. In a place like this? Either the building had been adapted for their activities on the ground floor, or the room had been altered to install these.  
>One of them turned out to be a drop-down bed, quickly folded back up into the wall again once I realized what it was. Not something I planned on being in, at least not at the same time as Latissa. Tommy's agreement was all very well, but I had no intentions of doing anything besides sleeping in a bed, especially here.<br>The rest contained various clothing, naturally all in similar styles to those I'd seen on Latissa and all the members of the Black Guard. They came in various sizes and seemed to practice the rule of not caring what gender you were, if it fit, that was it. There were a few exceptions in places as I flicked through, but not many. I did spot a few that looked like they would have fit Calix, though I doubt they would ever have gotten him to wear them given how he felt about them.  
>Perhaps unfortunately for me, Latissa chose that moment to return, and immediately noticed my glancing through the wardrobe.<br>"Looking to see what you're missing out on as one of Tommy's boys, huh?" she asked my slyly.  
>"Just curious," I answered. "One of the first things he taught me when in this kind of situation is to learn about the surroundings."<br>"I know how Tommy works. He spent some time telling me all about it when he was last here. Go ahead, Rocky. Pick yourself out some of our stuff and give it a try. Since you're staying here with us, you're going to have to look like one of us."  
>"I'm not one of you though," I pointed out, making to close the wardrobe.<br>"You are until Tommy decides to come back. I've got you all to myself, and that makes you as much a Black Guard as any of the others."  
>I didn't stop in closing the wardrobe, instead pretending to re-examine the movies and games beside it. Latissa chuckled to herself, opening the wardrobe again and picking things out with periodic glances at me. Obviously she planned to make me look like one of them whether I wanted to or not.<br>"It won't do much good," I told her. "I don't really got any reason to change."  
>"Oh no? We'll have to do something about that then. Why don't you come join me on the couch, Rocky? You can have a look at those later."<br>"What if I want to now?"  
>"You are stubborn one, aren't you? Much like Tommy was at first, until he also found out what he was missing out on."<br>"I'm not missing out on anything," I told her, turning to see her already on the couch. There was no sign of anything she'd taken out of the wardrobe, so I assumed she'd put it back. I decided there was no real harm in giving in to this at least, so I joined her.  
>"See, was that really so bad?" she asked, getting close enough to put an arm around me. "You know, there are a lot of guys in the Black Guard, let alone in the Alliance as a whole that would love to be you right now," she murmured in one ear.<br>"I'm sure they would be, but they're not. You got me, and all my being stubborn too."  
>"What would be the problem with letting me see if I can't open that shell of stubbornness slightly and opening your mind to what you could have with me?" Now she leaned back, pulling me gently with her. The couch was just wide enough that we had room to lay beside each other on it. Like the bed, this was not exactly a position I wanted to be in.<br>"I already said, I'm just fine the way I am."  
>"There's always room to try something new. You don't have to stay changed, you know. Once Tommy comes back, I might let you go back if he's willing to spend a night with me again."<br>"Only might?" I asked her, flinching back slightly as she tried to lift my shirt. I gently pulled that hand away so she didn't keep trying to do that, making her smile slightly. She was enjoying this already, never mind what I wanted.  
>"It depends on how much I like you and what you do here," she replied. "All I ask is that you give it a go. Trial it, if you will. See what you could have had if I'd found you instead of Tommy."<br>"I'll think about it."  
>"While you're thinking about it then, why don't you tell me about yourself?"<br>I hesitated. Should I invent a past to go with the growing part of me that was Rocky, or introduce her to the real me in Roxas?  
>"Can I trust you?" I asked instead.<br>"That depends what with," she countered.  
>"I'm being serious here. You can't tell anyone else about this."<br>"Why not?"  
>"Because I said so. And because I doubt people would understand unless it came from me or one of the others like me."<br>"You've piqued my curiosity. Alright, you can trust me. You have my word I won't tell anyone without your permission." And as far as the Alliance was concerned, I could take that to the bank. Remember the first part of the Code – your word is your bond, in whatever form given. She would not break this.  
>So I told her. Who I really was, what I was doing here, why I'd gone with Tommy and everything. She punctuated my explanations with questions where she didn't get what I was trying to say, and persisted at it until she got it a way that she understood, but at least it kept her from trying anything on me.<br>"So now I'm trying to get Axel back," I finished. "Hopefully the zombies haven't brainwashed him too much, and it won't be hard to get back again. What's going to be hardest is getting back to the Organization again, and back to my normal life after all this."  
>"I was right about you. You're definitely an interesting one... you really don't know what you're missing out on, you know."<br>"Do we really have to go into that again?"  
>"Hear me out. I trusted you, and indulged you while you told me this. Now it's your turn to do the same for me. I won't force you to do anything, but I am going to see if you can make good on Tommy's offer, believe me. Trust me, Roxas."<br>"Would you mind if we went back to Rocky? I kinda prefer it while I'm here."  
>"Whatever makes you more comfortable. So will you do something for me in return now?"<br>"Alright," I gave in. "Find those clothes out again, and I'll give this a fair go for you."  
>"I knew you'd come around to my way of thinking," she purred, at last satisfied that I'd decided to go with this.<p> 


	19. Roxas's tale, part 14

The Black Guard is so named for the odd lack of variety in what they wear, and because if they take an area, nothing short of a fully armed assault team put together by at least three big Corporations is going to take it back. Out of the entire Alliance, they have the most numbers, and the widest range of skills and resources. They achieve the most by themselves, but in spite of their somewhat fearsome reputation, they never forget there's more to the Alliance than themselves.  
>So now that I'd reluctantly indulged Latissa, I looked almost like one of them. Only my hair set me apart from them – natural blond is not a common colour among their members. Bleached is, and dyed various other colours too, but not my particular natural blond. Latissa and I had a fairly loud argument over that one, which I eventually won only by agreeing to take part in a raid they were planning.<br>Black Guard raids aren't like the kind of ones I would have done with Tommy. With only a few members, Tommy's methods were usually silent, subtle and sneaky. The Black Guard favoured noise, distraction, confusion and brute force. Both ways have their charms, I suppose.  
>The raid was planned to hit a small complex, involving two pubs that were hiding the HQ for an illegal drugs cartel within which they had two inside operatives. The objectives were four-fold – in Latissa's own words, steal the booze, the drugs, the operatives and any vehicle we could lay our hands on. The Black Guard junked more vehicles in a single week than most other gangs did in a whole year.<br>Of course, the real problem with this was that the target area was right next door to Corporate Plaza. Any Corporation with enough money to afford it had built a massive skyscraper, which of course housed a branch of their own Corporate Security. If we got caught in this region, they'd be on the scene long before any cop was.  
>To make it worse, they were short of drivers, and as the new guy on one of the teams, it was up to me to handle it instead, much as I protested that I couldn't drive.<br>"Simple as anything," I was told by the one running our team, who happened to also have been the bartender from the night before, who'd forgone his more normal name to be known as Thrasher. Sometimes I honestly wondered about the sanity of these people.  
>Not that he recognised me, to him I was just another stray kid they'd brought in. "Accelerator, brakes, wheel. Nothing to it except the gears." This did not leave me optimistic.<br>"Maybe simple," I muttered, "But we still don't have any wheels to drive."  
>"Don't worry. That's Allie's job," he nodded to another member of the team. She was leading the way, checking over every vehicle we passed. "She'll find us a suitable one and boost it."<br>"Boost?"  
>"Steal, hotwire and turn over to you. Never stop the engine on it until we get it back to the club or she'll have to restart it to bypass the alarms, and that wastes time and gets us caught. Everyone listening?" he asked as Allie ducked down to check the underside of something I was even less optimistic about driving – a minibus.<br>"You have got to be kidding me," I breathed.  
>"Stop that," Thrasher told me, checking to see the other three were with us. All of us were in small teams, in the whole becoming the mass force they'd need. "Now listen here. Allie as usual is our mech-nav." Mechanic and Navigator, for those who don't notice the ridiculously obvious slang. "Rocky's the driver, so if we want to get there and back no one irritate him. The rest of us are on a get-in, get-out basis. Case the joint, grab the goods. Our quota is at least a dozen bottles, as much drugs as possible, and one of the two agents. We fail to meet that and you might as well bend over and hand over your ass."<br>He wasn't joking either. It's not hard to figure out what he meant. Keep in mind most of the members of their gang are in their later teens, so any younger members grow up knowing these kind of things early. They're not afraid to mention them no matter how young or old, or what the company.  
>Anyway, we were cut off from any further discussion by the minibus's engine starting loudly. Allie extricated herself, yanking open one door for the others to get in, while Thrasher took the front passenger seat. Guess where I ended up?<br>Of all the vehicles she could have boosted, she had to pick one with a manual gearbox, didn't she? Even though he can't drive, Thrasher knows enough that he could probably do it even better than I could.  
>He didn't bother telling me to check the mirrors, instead relying on the others to keep an eye out behind us, then once I'd figured out the pedals and the gears, that was it. I didn't pay any attention to our speed, so I couldn't really tell you. I'm not sure I want to know either.<br>I was not the best driver, not if the screeching tyres when we cornered at speed were any indication, but it didn't take long for me to start to get the hang of it.  
>"Left turn!" Thrasher snapped at one point. "<em>Left<em> turn!"  
>"I <em>am<em> going left you stupid idiot!" I roared over the sound of the engine.  
>"Not that one, the other one!"<br>"There's only one left on this thing!"  
>"Not on the minibus, on the junction!"<br>"Do you want to do this?" I yelled back at him, hitting the brakes hard so I wouldn't miss the turning he'd pointed out. He prudently stopped trying to give me advice after that, sticking to the directions.  
>The road he sent us down was a one way road, which of course we were going the wrong way down. The oncoming traffic did nothing to exacerbate my temper. Allie casually remarked that for someone new to the gang, I had begun to sound a lot like one of them already. Chalk it up to the lack of patience I had – most of it was going on keeping that thing on four wheels, let alone actually getting where we were meant to.<br>Despite everything, I did get us the the target area, using the handbrake to spin the minibus around so the same side they'd gotten in by was facing the place they had to go. There were two other groups already there, both in large commercial vans – one with ladders still attached to it. The members nearby quickly gathered around my own vehicle too, well armed and ready to hold off anything that came our way.  
>As the dedicated driver, it was my task to stick with the vehicle and not get involved directly, which suited me just fine. I took a few moments the make sense of the various displays, then pretty much gave up. What did I need to know all the details for? It worked, didn't it?<br>Within a few minutes, a good dozen other groups turned up to join in the mayhem. Gunfire, yelling, shouting and screaming came from pretty much everywhere, creating the kind of chaos that only made things easier for the others.  
>Of course, with the Corporate Plaza right next door the chaos only got worse when the various security started to show up. The part of the Black Guard here to guard the vehicles, drivers and those involved in the actual raid were almost as dangerous as the security was. I started to understand why the adults in this part of the city were afraid of the Black Guard – they didn't bring numbers for safety in numbers, they brought numbers because it made it harder for their opponents to stop them.<br>I stood up out of the sunroof, chancing the gunfire to see over the crowds to get an idea of what we were facing. Rather astonishingly, I found that we actually outnumbered them, even though they had us surrounded on two sides, a third blocked off by the late arrival of the normal police. I couldn't see why we still had a clear route to the south, but by what I was hearing it seemed like there were yet more groups barring entry that way too.  
>Of course, standing up to see was a bit of a stupid act in the middle of a fire fight, even with most of the fight kept away from the vehicles, and I got hit in the shoulder. The left one thankfully, since these vehicles are left hand drive. Aside from the steering, there's nothing important I needed my left arm for.<br>In moments of my quickly getting back down again, several more shots impacted the windows. Somehow I managed to avoid getting hit again, but at least now I had a cover for getting shot besides being an idiot.  
>Not a moment too soon either, the various groups that had been busy inside started to come back, with my own group being one of the first. In preparation for the no doubt hasty exit they'd want to make, I let off the main brake, waiting until they'd all practically thrown themselves in, along with an additional girl who bore an uncanny resemblance to Sparky, momentarily reminding me I really did miss him and the others. Tommy had better get me out of this.<br>Then they were all in, along with several creates with the rest of what Thrasher had called their quota. Almost before the door had been closed, I floored the accelerator. Which sent everyone and everything not held down backwards, but that wasn't anything to do with me, next stop was the punk club we'd started at. I had a rough idea of where to go, which was just as well since Thrasher was busy disentangling himself from everyone else.  
>Like on the way up, I paid little attention to other vehicles, speed limits, lights and even pedestrians. In my defence I did try not to hit any, but they figured secondary to getting back to someplace much safer.<br>Someplace safer being a place where I did not have what felt like half the city's police force after me for one thing. The minibus might have been practical for carrying all of us and the cargo, but it was not made to outrun patrol cars.  
>"Everyone hang on back there," I yelled over my shoulder, glancing in the mirrors to see one on either side of me, and a lot more behind. I noticed Thrasher himself look out, grow pale and mutter something as he ducked under one of the seats.<br>Either I had extraordinary luck, or I'm a natural when it comes to getting rid of pursuing cars. When I swerved sideways to hid the patrol car to the right it spun out of control and quickly caused a bit of chaos behind me.  
>"Pull over the vehicle!" a cop in the nearside patrol car shouted at me.<br>"Go boil your head!" I retorted, then repeated the same tactic as before. My aim was off though, and I ended up pushing that car sideways until it got stopped by a fire hydrant.  
>Despite the result of the first one I'd dealt with, there were still plenty on our tail, though they were much more cautious after seeing the first two so easily dispatched.<br>"Can't you go any faster?" Allie called.  
>"If you wanted speed, you should have boosted something better! Someone get up here and navigate, or we're about to lose them and ourselves."<br>A few moments later, Thrasher managed to haul himself up to the front seat again.  
>"Oh, hell," he muttered. "What am I doing up front?"<br>"You know this city better than I do. I need to get rid of them, and then get you lot back before we cause any more trouble," I replied.  
>"I know that, but why me?"<br>"Look, I didn't ask you to get your ass up here, did I? I just said one of you."  
>"I know, I'm starting to regret answering that."<br>"Just give me directions or get out of my minibus."  
>"Yours!"<br>"Who's driving it?" I asked, taking a sharp turn.  
>"Point taken," he answered, going pale again.<br>With his help, we managed to junk at least a dozen more patrol cars, and lose the rest before we hit the edge of the combat zone. We passed by the security shop where Tommy had set up shop, and in the brief moment we passed I noticed Calix just inside talking animatedly with Tommy.  
>We were one of the first to get back, and so benefited from much more of the help from those who'd remained behind in getting the quota into the club. Latissa herself was on the scene to oversee the operation with a grim look. When she saw us coming in that look turned to a smouldering smirk.<br>After having learned how to drive, albeit while breaking practically every rule in the book in the process, I was actually really reluctant to turn the engine off and give it up. I could wait until everything was unloaded and then disappear back off to see Tommy before they could stop me, but then I remembered I'd left my stuff up in her lounge, and I didn't want to leave it behind.  
>Thrasher headed her off before she reached me, shaking slightly and still pale.<br>"He's an absolute terror!" he told her. "If he's driving again, go give me someone else – even Old Tom is alright in comparison to him."  
>"Oh come now," she replied as I finally got out of the minibus. "Just how bad could it have been?"<br>"You weren't there, boss! Ask any of the others, you give him something to drive again and he becomes a natural disaster waiting to happen." He shook his head, taking a bottle from a passing crate of alcohol as he headed inside, muttering to himself about my driving.  
>"I take it you enjoyed yourself?" she inquired in the manner of one asking about the weather. I glanced back to the minibus for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh, which in turn set off the shoulder that had been hit.<br>"Think maybe you could get the old doc to pay a house call?" I asked her, putting a hand to my shoulder.  
>"What happened?"<br>"I mighta got shot at while I was waiting for them to get back. It was worth it for seeing his reaction to my driving though," I grinned back.  
>Latissa didn't pass any further comment, though I did spot her try to conceal a grin as she turned to order someone to fetch Kildare.<p> 


	20. Roxas's tale, part 15

Watching Kildare treat someone, and watching Kildare treat you are two entirely different things. It hadn't looked so bad when I'd seen him last time, coincidentally doing the same thing he had to do to me – removing a bullet from the left shoulder and patching up the wound – but being on the receiving end quickly disabused me of that notion.  
>"Stop squirming!" he commanded me, trying to hold me still with one hand while his other hand worked away on the wound, the medical tools once again splayed out from the fingers. As I already knew, medical anaesthetics were in short supply, let alone even normal painkillers for that matter, so I had to endure not just what I could feel him doing, but seeing it as well. Or at least as much as I dared let myself see after he'd pulled my shirt aside to see the injury better. It had looked worse than I thought.<br>Latissa was nearby, watching with an amused look. Against Kildare's insistence otherwise, she'd had him treat me up in her lounge away from anyone else.  
>"Just how did you end up getting shot, Rocky?" she asked me.<br>"Didn't you see the front of the minibus? They were shooting at it, can't expect me to avoid everything, can you?"  
>"Young man, I saw the damage to it on my way in," Kildare told me gravely. "There is not a single shot which could have caused both one of those, and also done this to you."<br>"How'd you tell that?"  
>"I used to be a medic and forensics expert for the city police. Figuring out things like that was a part of my job. No, whoever did this to you was aiming for you, and not the minibus."<br>"So you're saying he made a target of himself?" Latissa suggested.  
>"Most likely. As the sunroof of his vehicle was left open-"<br>"Alright, so I stood up to see what was going on while I was waiting," I cut him off testily, wincing as he did something that hurt particularly. I suspect he did that on purpose too. "I was curious, can't blame me for that."  
>"Most people have better sense than to draw attention to themselves – particularly when they're driving," Latissa point out. "I'm amazed you only got hit the once."<br>"Actually, there is a second one," Kildare told us. "But it's a mere graze, and not worth treating. A remarkably close call." His hand shifted tools with a small whir and a click, threading a needle for him to use closing the wound itself. "Hold still!" he snapped as I shrank back from that. I wasn't entirely comfortable with someone holding a needle near me in a place like this, not given that I'd seen a few members injecting themselves with something, probably other drugs. It was a different kind of needle to that, but they look similar. If it had been anyone other than him wielding it, I wouldn't have let them continue. Once he'd finally closed the wound he taped a small pad over it just in case.  
>"Thanks, Doc," I said, sitting up again.<br>"Leave it alone," he admonished me, tapping my hand away from it. "It'll need time to heal properly. You're lucky this time, I recently acquired a stock of medical gear that included a rapid-healing fluid, so I've added some of that. It'll still need time though."  
>"I know, gotta lay off using it so much."<br>Kildare sighed, turning to leave. "I wish you'd make your people stop being so reckless," he told Latissa. "They're like daredevils. I treat more of yours than I do anyone else, and half the time I can't even pass it off to my own gang because of the severity of the injuries you pick up."  
>"You know they won't listen if we try to tell them though," she pointed out. "They'll keep on doing it just the same because it's the way they are. Now, about your payment-"<br>"Don't worry about it," Kildare shook his head. "I'll settle for your owing me a favour this time."  
>"Just be careful how you call it in," he was warned, then showed the way out. "What am I going to do with you?" Latissa asked me afterwards. "First you don't want to be like us, then you go off and drive so well you outdo even Old Tom, and there are very few people who'll willingly let him drive them. Do you have any idea what Tommy is going to say if he hears I let you get shot on my watch?"<br>"'scuse me?" I objected. "Your watch? I dint ask you to look out for me, y'know. Weren't your fault I done it at all, so I don't see where you come into it. If he's gotta a problem with it, he can come to me over it."  
>"Rocky dear, you're technically one of the Black Guard, remember? That means that like every other Black Guard member, I'm responsible for you. Same as Tommy was responsible for you when you were with him."<br>"And same as he will be when I go back, but there's always personal responsibility too. It was stupid of me to have done it, but I done it anyway, and that's no fault of yours."  
>"And if you were any other member, I'd be taking you to task over doing something so stupid, perhaps even going so far as to take away the drugs and drink that you would be doing were you that other member. But you're not just any other member, you're only technically a member because I persuaded you and because of the agreement with Tommy, and that's the only reason you're not getting that treatment."<br>"Well, I don't want special treatment," I told her firmly, hoping that if she went with this I'd have the same chances as any other member of the Black Guard when it came to the sort of things she wanted to do with me.  
>Unfortunately, she had the same idea as me, and wasn't going to let up easily.<br>"You're part of the agreement with Tommy," she shook her head. "It's not up to me. Tommy sent you to me, and that means he's the one who arranged the special treatment. Nice try though," she added.  
>"So now what?" I asked, pretending to sulk about this. "You're just gonna keep me here until he turns up?"<br>"You could go and indulge yourself downstairs with the others, though given your insistence otherwise... there isn't anything else for you to do. Nothing else I could send you out with others for, not at the moment. Unless of course you want to try and make good on the agreement. Who knows, maybe if you try it you won't want to leave."  
>Some chance of that. I respected Tommy's agreement, I really did, but I also wished she'd stop trying to get me to actually do something about it.<br>I was saved from having to think up a response by one of the many others coming in, knocking as he did so.  
>"We gotta tip off, boss," he told Latissa. "Big team, heading down this way. Eyewitness say they're Akira's goons."<br>"And?" she prompted him.  
>"Tasha reckons the woman leading them is the Inspector."<br>"Did she get it confirmed?"  
>He nodded, "Four times over. Your guy and his kids had to evac the old security shop or get caught. We helped them outta there and put them up in the old mall two east along with a bunch of others to keep them safe just in case, but the Inspector's headed right for us. She don't got any interest in them it seems."<br>"Or perhaps we shifted the interest to us in assisting them," Latissa murmured. "Rocky, under one of the cushions of that couch should be a remote. Find it out for me."  
>I expected it to be hard to find, given all the players and such that probably also had a remote, but a quick glance over to them told me they each had their respective ones sat safely on top of them. I quickly found out the one she was after, tossing it to her.<br>She then moved to one of the windows to the club below, shoved the blinds aside and opened the window, letting the music and other sounds from below become suddenly much louder. Only for a moment though, as she used the remote and the music died, followed by an outcry from the floor.  
>"That's enough!" Latissa snapped. "We've got company on the way. Yellow status, everyone – all minors off the floor and get your entertainments out of sight! Make it look legal or I'll have you up here explaining yourself directly to me, and you'd better have a damn good explanation!"<br>I'd thought there might be a short delay for that to sink in, but instead through the other blinds I could see that activity had started almost as soon as she'd finished giving the command. Those not so encumbered by various substances helped those who were out of various doors to get them out, along with anyone who was, by city laws at least, under the legal age.  
>Anyone who was indulging themselves in the same kind of acts that Latissa wanted me to do with her reluctantly separated and either left for somewhere private to finish off, or made like they hadn't been doing anything at all.<br>In just a few short minutes, the scene below was actually fairly legal looking, though still clearly a punk club owned by the Black Guard. When Latissa was satisfied, she restored the music and closed the window again.  
>"Return to your post," she told the messenger, turning back to him. "Make sure the boys on the door don't let anyone in unless they're escorted by you."<br>"I know the drill, boss," he replied with a faint smile. "You don't gotta tell us how to tie our own shoes too, you know. We've done this before."  
>"I know dear, but it never hurts to be sure. Now go."<br>"What about me?" I asked.  
>"Just stay here with me, and trust me."<br>"There's kinda a bit of a problem with that. The Inspector might be looking for me," I told her, then went into detail on the ticket scam I'd pulled off and the officer I'd shot, both of which she was probably trying to get me for.  
>"You do seem to have a knack for attracting trouble, Rocky," she observed. "You realize this is a little more serious than just any old inspector investigating."<br>"Yeah, I heard about the Inspector's rep already. Will you help me anyway though? I don't wanna think about what'd happen to me if she caught me."  
>"Of course I'm going to help you. You know the Code, never turn in a fellow Alliance member." She pursed her lips for a moment, then continued, "Of course, first we're going to have to do something about your appearance. I won't try and get you to recolour your hair again, don't worry. But we're going to have to do something. And then after this-"<br>"I know. I'm gonna have to do something in return," I finished for her, having a fair idea of what she's ask of me.  
>Her solution was to use a kind of flesh-coloured cap to cover my real hair, and on top of that adding a wig with long black dreadlocks, similar to Xaldin's hairstyle but thicker. The jacket was exchanged for a shorter sleeved one, and against my better judgement I allowed her to add one of those airbrushed temporary tattoos to one arm in the design that all Black Guard members had I'd seen it before when entering their territory; a blue shield with a black stick figure on it.<br>Once we'd finished making me look even more different than I had already, she took a look down into the club below.  
>"It looks like the Inspector has arrived," she murmured, gesturing for me to see. It was hard to see clearly, but I could clearly see a group of adults by the entrance in suits.<p> 


	21. Roxas's tale, part 16

One of the advantages of a disguise as compete and thorough as the one Latissa had given me is that it helps give you something to work with, the foundations for the character you're trying to act. Of course, if like me you're just a Nobody acting like a normal kid, who is then also acting like a different kid, then things get a bit complicated.  
>Latissa had told me we'd stick with the name Tommy had given me, but otherwise to ensure that I seemed to be someone completely different – a second Rocky, one that had been with the Black Guard for much longer. I had plenty of examples to draw on just from my short time with them, and with the airbrushed tattoo on my arm proclaiming louder than words that I'd obviously been with them long enough to earn the right to wear it, even if it wasn't the real thing, I was confident that I'd be able to pull this off.<br>I was not so confident I'd get out of it without Latissa getting what she'd been after though, or at least having to give up something in exchange for the assistance in getting rid of the Inspector.  
>Since she'd also told me to play along with what she wanted, she used the opportunity to get a bit closer to me on her favourite couch, just opposite the door. Just big enough for two, though with one arm holding me closely to her, there was plenty of room. Evidently she was set on appearing to be close with me, and make use of that. I'd have protested, but as she'd said before – there were a lot of others who'd dearly love to have been in my position. And now since I had to act as if I was one of those others, I had to at least appear to be satisfied that I'd gotten myself into that position.<br>It was actually kind of nice like that. Say what you will about her and the Black Guard, but she does look after those she cares about, including me at that point.  
>We waited nervously, or at least I did. If I'd had a heart, it would have been battering away at my ribs. Latissa subtly helped ease those nerves simply by keeping me close and reminding me she wouldn't let the Inspector do anything to me if she had anything to say about it.<br>Then the knock came, the sound I'd been dreading since I'd seen the Inspector enter the club.  
>"Enter," Latissa called, sounding cold and hard. The punk who'd warned us about the Inspector rejoined us again, closely followed by seven tall men and women in suits, but with the bearing of soldiers, and one shorter one that stuck out because of her size. I knew instantly, this was the Inspector. She had shoulder length auburn hair, grey eyes, and an expression that would have frozen boiling water. In one hand she clutched a clipboard tightly to her side, on the other arm was a leather handbag. Latissa's expression changed to match the tone she'd used on seeing them, though her hand reached up to my shoulder protectively. A light push from her guided me to move closer.<br>"Forgive the disturbance, Lady," the punk said with considerable respect. It was a far cry from how they'd acted when I'd come in. Obviously for 'special' guests like these, the rules were changed slightly. "They insisted on seeing you. I told them you were busy, but I was told it couldn't be put off."  
>"I see," Latissa whispered, even colder than before. "And who are they?"<br>"'They' are of no importance," the Inspector answered for the punk. "I am Detective Chief Inspector Eliza Cahartez, King City Crime Squad," she introduced herself. I guess that was meant to sound impressive, but I can't say I was terribly impressed. It made her sound like she was too impressed by the sound of her own importance.  
>"And what business do you have with me?"<br>"I want that boy at your side," she answered bluntly.  
>"Go to hell," I told her just as bluntly. "I ain't interested in old fossils like you." The punk who'd brought them to us muffled a snigger.<br>"For questioning," she added stiffly.  
>"Concerning?" Latissa asked, not wasting any words.<br>"The murder of Officer Tobias Andrews, along with several other crimes committed."  
>"Including?"<br>"Several counts of assault and theft, having dealings with known and wanted criminals, resisting arrest, wilful destruction of civic property and grifting." I had to assume that last was some fancy term for the ticket scam that these legal types had come up with. I knew I had done a lot of that, or at least watched the others do it, and I knew it was definitely wrong. But somehow, I couldn't help but feel proud of it all the same. Not even here for a full week, and already I had a nice little collection of crimes to put to my name.  
>"Just when are these alleged acts meant to have happened?" Latissa asked the Inspector, looking suspicious.<br>"Over the past few days. The murder and grifting charges in the past two days, the wilful destruction today, and the rest multiple times."  
>"Can't have been me then," I shrugged, improvising on the spot. "I been here all day."<br>Now her attention focused entirely on me, and given that she looked at me like I was something the dog had left behind, this was not entirely a good thing. "Prove it," she told me icily.  
>"He has an alibi," Latissa covered. "Why shouldn't I spend the day with my boyfriend?" My contented smirk grew very forced just then. I knew the reason she'd said it, but still...<br>"Forgive me young lady," the Inspector said with an icy smirk. "But you are the one harbouring him here. I can hardly accept your word alone."  
>"I can confirm it too," the punk still stood nearby told her. "And so will anyone you ask downstairs."<br>"This establishment is a known refuge for the gang that call themselves the Black Guard, and I know you," she nodded to Latissa. "By your file. You are the current leader of the Black Guard, no?"  
>"You're well informed. I am indeed their boss."<br>"Therefore, I cannot trust your... gang. You may have compelled them to go along with this simply to protect the boy."  
>The continual references to me as 'the boy' were starting to irritate me, and I decided enough was enough.<br>"First, 'the boy' has a name, and his name is Rocky," I told her, getting to my feet. "Use it, don't forget it. Second, if you're gonna refuse the word of every member of the gang just 'cause I got into the boss's favour, then I gotta wonder what else you're chucking out just 'cause you don't like us kids. And third, I heard stories about you. They tell me you don't care about the truth. Well here's your chance to prove 'em wrong. You got the truth staring you in the face, so just accept it and move on."  
>"Maybe you could do with a few moments to compose yourself," Latissa suggested gently, also rising to stand nearby in case she had to stop me from trying to attack them. It was tempting, but with the Inspector's seven dwarves – I mean goons – I wasn't going to chance it.<br>"I _am_ composed," I snorted. "It's her what needs to take time to sort herself out. Stupid old woman like her, bullying her way in to see you when you told 'em we dint want to be disturbed and then demanding I go with her for stuff some other kid's done. Bet she hasn't even read the file on this kid and doesn't even know what he looks like." I was gambling that I was right, or that she'd forgotten.  
>"Of course I know," the Inspector snapped, pulling a thin file from her handbag. The gamble looked like it was paying off. "Known to work with the Golden Lions gang," she read off one sheet inside. "Wears white, has blue eyes and blond hair."<br>"Do I look like I got white on me?" I demanded of her. "Do I look like I got blond hair? Look here," I pointed to the tattoo now. "See this? Tell her what it means," I told the other punk.  
>"It means he's earned the right to be called a true member of the gang," he supplied. "They're not given out lightly, and you gotta have been in the gang for at least a year before even being considered for one. If you get one, it means you'll never be a part of any other gang – once a Black Guard, always a Black Guard."<br>"See?" I rounded back on the Inspector. "I don't know who these Golden Lions are, and I don't care. I ain't one of them, and I certainly ain't whoever you're looking for. So why don't you get your facts in order, read your files once in a while and go find the real kid instead?"  
>The Inspector seemed taken back by this outburst, let alone the sudden unexpected torrent of supposed evidence to confirm our little story.<br>"Perhaps... there is another boy matching that description within the Black Guard?" she asked, recovering quickly.  
>"I doubt it," Latissa answered. "I'd know if any of the boys violated the dress code. We're the Black Guard, not the White Guard. Now if you know what's good for you, you'll kindly leave my room and allow us to get back to what we were doing before you so rudely barged your way in."<br>"You're welcome to indulge yourselves at the bar before you leave the building though," I added with a smirk.  
>"I don't drink on duty," she responded coldly, then turned and swept from the room, her goons in tow. The punk who'd brought her in moved to the door, watching them leave, then closed it when they were out of sight.<br>Then he and Latissa burst out laughing.  
>"Rocky, after that if you ever want to change your mind, you're more than welcome to stay with us," Latissa told me when it had finally subsided. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you really were one of us."<br>"Loved the old fossil remark," the punk added. "She'll be out for revenge after that, you know. Even one step outta line, and she'll be heading after you quicker'n you can say 'it wasn't me'."  
>"He does have a nice barbed touch to him, doesn't he," Latissa agreed. "Go on back downstairs and make sure they've left. Once they've gone, spread the word about this."<br>"You got it," he replied, grinning broadly. I had a feeling I'd just gone down in the gang's legends for standing up to the Inspector like that.  
>"You know something?" I said to Latissa then. "I think this calls for a drink."<br>"Except you don't drink."  
>"One only," I told her. "Then we'll argue over what you want from me for helping get me out of that."<br>"You really think we're going to argue?"  
>"Oh, I think I know what the outcome will be. But I just want to have the argument about it anyway. Maybe I'll get smart again and get outta that too."<br>"Not on your life," she smirked.  
>I kept to that one drink limit I'd set on myself. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have let her pick the drink though. She didn't try and push a stronger drink on me, but I imagine had I asked what it was before hand, she might have warned me that it had a powerful kick to it,<br>We did argue, and I turned out to be right about the outcome. At least I had the consolation of knowing I'd tried.  
>Then after that, I guess you could say I had a bit of an education into some things I'd never really given any thought to before then. Do I really need to go into any detail at all? No? I didn't think so.<p> 


	22. Roxas's tale, part 17

I want it clearly understood right here that despite how it might have seemed, I didn't want to go through with the kinds of acts she had me go through. But a deal is a deal, fair and square, and I was going to abide by it. First by Tommy's one, and second because that was the cost of having her help throw the Inspector off my trail. I might not have wanted to do it, I might not have wanted to keep to the agreement, but if I didn't keep my word how was anyone meant to trust me?  
>So yes, it happened. I'm not going to go into it, because it's not important. Nothing came of it except my learning about some things that I probably wouldn't have come across otherwise, at least not for a while, and we can move on.<br>By this time I'd been here for five days, now dawning into my sixth, and the last day I'd have before I met Axel again, not that I knew that at the time. I was actually starting to wonder if he'd ever manage to find me, or me him, but also admitted that I wouldn't be too disappointed if I ended up staying here. It might have been a hard life with plenty of lying and illegal activities, but when you're enjoying yourself, who cares?  
>I rose first on that sixth day, and it was probably just as well that I remembered what had happened the previous night before I decided to actually get up. Thankfully Latissa sleeps fairly soundly when comfortable, so I was able to disentangle myself from her arms without disturbing her.<br>For a moment after getting up, I was torn. That night, she'd told me that I wasn't under any obligation to continue acting like one of them, though she had added that it wasn't meant to be any kind of sign that I hadn't been able to outdo whatever Tommy had done with her.  
>I was tempted for a time to suggest staying with the Black Guard though, and going with them. But then I remembered, Tommy was helping me find Axel, and I also had to warn him about my suspicions when it came to Calix. So somewhat reluctantly, I returned to my original appearance.<br>There wasn't much for me to do after that. I wasn't going to just go off and leave Latissa without letting her know at least, and I didn't want to disturb her. Since the usual thump of the music downstairs was absent, I opened one window and leaned out to see why.  
>It turned out to be because most of the members there were either out cold, or tidying up what appeared to be the remnants of some kind of excessive drinking spree. Though for all I knew, that could just be the normal state of existance in the mornings. Given that most of the time the place never actually seems to close, it's kinda hard to tell.<br>While I was leaning on the frame of that window, I happened to notice one young kid who looked distinctly out of place among the others there. I knew him, or at least who he could be. Assault and Battery both look very similar, and from my vantage it was hard to tell which he was.  
>Whichever one he was, he started looking around the place for someone. Taking care not to make too much noise, I tapped the windows next to me to get his attention. The smirk he gave when he noticed me confirmed this was Assault, the same one who'd been with us at the shooting gallery.<br>"Wait right there," he told me, not having to raise his voice to be heard. "Gotta message for you off'f Oracleboy."  
>Now that was unexpected. Based on everything I'd heard about the Oracle so far, I'd have to trust that Tommy would decide when it was time for me to meet their Oracle. We'd had messages from him before, but always to Tommy, never to me directly, so this was a bit of a change.<br>So I closed that window I was at, then quietly let myself out of Latissa's room. Maybe Assault would know what had gone on in there the night before, maybe the Oracle knew and had told him. But I didn't want him to get any ideas even if he did know.  
>"That was quick," I murmured, seeing him coming up the stairs already.<br>"I got a load more messages to run out," he explained. "Kinda gets me to hurry right along, 'cause they're all over the city. I've actually got three for you."  
>"All from him? I'm touched I warrant all the attention."<br>"Yeah, well, you might change your mind after you hear 'em. First, he says to stay here and wait for Tommy. He'll be along in a bit, will send you on back to the others, then he'll catch up little after."  
>"Like I was planning to do otherwise," I snorted. "Latissa's kept me on a short leash. Doesn't want me to go too far unless it's for them."<br>"Yeah, she's like that with her interests. Shoulda seen how many times Tommy tried to get outta it," he laughed. "Anyway, second and third messages. You gotta make two choices. The obvious one is to stick around, or go home when ya get the chance."  
>"And the other?" I asked, not betraying any interest in going either way. I was still undecided.<br>"Do ya tell them, or not?"  
>"Tell who?"<br>"Should be obvious. You don't get long to decide. If you want some advice, Oracleboy says you're welcome to drop in on him once both you'n Tommy are back with his boys, but it's gotta be today. Tomorrow's too late."  
>"Short deadline," I noted. "I don't suppose you can tell me..." I trailed off.<br>"Nope. If you wanna know what he's been up to, you'll have to ask him yourself. Oracleboy doesn't do on-demand, just what he feels necessary."  
>Now I had to ask and satisfy my curiosity. "Does he<em> really<em> see the future, or is he just very accurate with his guesses?"  
>"Not a question I can answer, Roxas," Assault told me, taking a more serious look. "My brother and I might be his messengers by special agreement, but there are limits on what we're allowed to say. My time here is up anyway – can't stay for long." He rose, then paused and glanced back to say, "By the way. You're right about Calix. That doesn't come from the Oracle, that's a personal message. Can you give him a message from us?"<br>"Sure thing, if I'm seeing him later."  
>"Tell him the twins still haven't forgiven him. He'll understand. Anyway, I'm out."<br>At least now I had something else to prove my suspicions about Calix, something I could give Tommy to help prove them. I completely missed the significance of the message for him though. It wasn't until I delivered it that I started to understand it at all.

Only two hours after Assault's visit, the club was back to normal, loud music and everything. Latissa had been pretending to sleep when I'd gotten up I discovered, and had also overheard my conversation with Assault. She did apologise for that, but once she'd sent someone running to grab us both breakfast – what it was, she wouldn't tell me – she also pointed out that the Oracle wasn't the only one I could go to for advice.  
>"Personally, I think you should stay here," she told me. "Not just because of what you've done while here, I've no doubt that list of crimes the Inspector rattled off was fairly accurate. But you've got the right kind of attitude, and the right kind of approach to go far here. What do you have if you go back to what you had before?"<br>"Saïx sending me off on missions again, collecting hearts for the Organization, ice cream with Axel and Xion, and maybe someday my own heart," I shrugged. "The same old routine as always."  
>"And are you going to be satisfied with that, and whatever comes from it?"<br>"I dunno. I guess. I've never really had the choice before, that's just all I've ever known... at least-"  
>"At least until you got nicked here and thrust into our world," she finished for me. I just nodded. "What about a compromise? Live and stay here, just turn up for work as normal."<br>"Saïx would never approve it," I shook my head. "He'd insist on having me in the castle so they could keep an eye on me, more likely."  
>"You don't know that for certain though."<br>"You've never met him. He's ridiculously stubborn."  
>"At least try it. Be honest, Roxas – what have you got to lose? And if he doesn't let you, what's to stop you going above his head?"<br>"Somehow I don't think Xemnas would be any more inclined to let me," I laughed. "I bet he's heard about what happened here by now, and I wouldn't put it past him to have sent all the others here to try and track me down. Xion can cover for me, but ideally, he'll want both her and me on the job, so he won't like losing me, even temporarily."  
>"Bosses are like that. I should know, I am one."<br>"And so am I," Tommy's voice came from the doorway. "I took the liberty of intercepting your breakfast to bring it myself, and getting a third round for me. I hope you don't mind me joining you two."  
>"Not at all," Latissa replied, almost springing to her feet. The breakfast was quickly set down on the table before she jarred it from his hands.<br>"Easy there," Tommy laughed. "I know you've missed me, but really, didn't Rocky try to do something about that?"  
>"Oh, he tried."<br>"Not that I wanted to," I muttered.  
>"Hush, Roxas. He did try, and I'll admit he's good... but nothing matches to you, you should know that."<br>Tommy laughed again, shaking his head. "You're terrible. I'm sorry you got put through this," he told me. "I completely forgot we wouldn't be far from her."  
>"That's alright," I grinned impudently. "I got to see another of the Alliance's gangs from the inside, cause trouble with them, and even get tempted to stick around with them too."<br>"You're not trying to steal my boys from me again are you?" he asked Latissa slyly.  
>"Me? Would I do a thing like that?" she replied with wide-eyed innocence.<br>Over breakfast, Latissa and I recounted the little adventures I'd gotten up to with the Black Guard, and Tommy grudgingly agreed that just maybe I could have gone a lot further with them than I had with him.  
>Once that was out the way, there was one other thing I had to discuss.<br>"Tommy, what's Calix been up to?"  
>"I don't know, actually. He says you decided he could be trusted, and insisted on going out on a kind of patrol every night by himself. We haven't had any trouble, so I assume he's doing something."<br>"I never said that, and if anything I'd say the opposite. I've had a few suspicions about him for a while now, and just this morning Assault came to me and confirmed them. Tommy, I don't know what kind of stuff the zombies have got, but I think somehow Calix isn't as young as he looks."  
>"I've heard of something like this," Latissa said. "I'd always thought it was just a rumour designed to disrupt the trust in the Alliance. If they're true... well, only Akira's Corporation can afford it."<br>"Afford what?" we both asked curiously.  
>"Roxas could well be right. He looks that young because the body was designed that way. It's a bit like the arm and leg replacements some of the adults will get, except much more advanced and they get a replacement body instead of a limb."<br>"An adult with a mechanical body that appears to be a child," Tommy nodded appreciatively. "That sounds like something Akira would try alright. It explains why he always talked more like an adult, and why he always seemed to dislike our common views on most adults."  
>"When I went out to look around with him, there were some zombies along the way," I told them. "Calix went on ahead to talk to them, trying to assure me they were harmless. I think the reason you've not been getting any trouble-"<br>"Is because he's telling them not to cause any," Latissa finished. "And he's probably selling information on you to them as well."  
>"Latissa, do you remember when I had to break Whisper out of that military camp at the city limits?" Tommy asked then.<br>"How could I forget," she grimaced. "Only you would insist on running into a place like that with a plan as bold as yours. He had me support him on my shoulders," she told me. "And we stole a military uniform. At the time we were just a bit younger, so our combined height didn't attract any attention. He had his boys knock up a rig that allowed us to appear to have normal hands that worked, and planned to go with that just to get in and get one kid out of the camp."  
>"It worked perfectly," Tommy grinned. "No one suspected that a couple of kids would ever try something so obvious. We relieved the guard, stole the keys to the cell and a truck, busted Whisper out and then Latissa drove us the rest of the way."<br>"With people shooting at us," she added. "You wouldn't believe how many times we came close to getting hit. Why bring that up?" she asked him then.  
>"I'm going to have to move the boys," he explained. "But I'm going to need to fool Calix so I can get them out safely without having him tag along."<br>"I get it," I said, realizing what he was planning. "He's thinking of the same thing what we done when the Inspector turned up, kinda. He's gonna ask you to have some of your boys make themselves look like us, then Tommy'll get Calix to do one of his patrol runs, and while he's out we do the switch. He comes back to see people what he thinks are us, and we're off away easy-like."  
>"You're getting good at that," Tommy told me. "You know, if you stick around here, I think if I taught you a few more things, you might make a better leader than I do." Again, that suggestion of staying, making things here more tempting.<br>"I think I can improve on it though," I said instead. "Rather than get Calix to go out, if Latissa can find people what come close to matching us and can pass as us, then all we actually got to do is send one of them out on some task, and have her replacement come back from it."  
>"I'm fairly sure I can find some who look close enough to you and your boys to pass as them. Since Calix won't be expecting it, he shouldn't notice any discrepancies until too late. I might have a problem with you though, Roxas."<br>"Me? Why?"  
>"After how you handled the Inspector's visit last night, if I mention this I'll get overrun with so many offers from those who want to get a chance to be you."<br>Well, they do say imitation is the highest form of flattery. I'd made more of an impression on the Black Guard than I thought.


	23. Roxas's tale, part 18

Contrary to Latissa's opinion otherwise, it wasn't actually too troublesome to find someone who could pass for me, and before long we had a complete gang of four that looked identical to me, Tommy, Whisper and Sparky.  
>As the Black Guard had moved Tommy and the boys to an abandoned mall nearby when the Inspector had come to try and snare me, and out of the six of us going only he knew where that was, I offered to drive again. I borrowed Allie from Latissa to find us a vehicle, only to have her hand me the same minibus I'd had originally, patched up a bit, with their emblem on the side, and waiting for me. A couple of our masquerading members looked a little distrustful when I settled into the drivers seat. Apparently word had gotten around about the last time.<br>This time though, I wasn't running from anything, there was nothing chasing me, and there was no real hurry. I even stuck to a speed limit, though probably not the one I was meant to, and since there were plenty of junked cars on the roads here I ignored the markings for which side I was meant to be on. But who's going to care in the only area where the normal police won't come without a lot of backup?  
>Tommy guided me to a parking lot just around the corner from their mall, not wanting to attract attention to it, then had the others wait there while he and I went on in.<br>It was only a small mall, and the power had long since been cut, so nothing worked as such. We found the others camped out in the remnants of a pizza store, reminding me of the pizza shop I'd shut down for its illegal arms trade. That seemed like ages ago now.  
>"Wait here," he murmured to me at the door, keeping me out of sight as he went in. "Don't get excited boys, it's only me," he called in. "Sparky back?"<br>"Right here, boss," his voice came back. "Sold off all the loot we picked up for a song, even picked up some supplies. Whisper's out back seeing if he can get the kitchen up'n running with it so we can have a cooked meal."  
>"About time too," Calix added. "I was starting to think I'd never having anything warm again."<br>"Never mind that. I need you all here for a moment. Someone fetch Whisper."  
>"Don't bother," he told them. "I heard everything. I'm here. What's up?"<br>"I found someone on my excursion," Tommy told them. "He's been a little busy, but he agreed to come with me."  
>"Who is it?" Calix asked curiously. "Someone we know?"<br>"I'll let you decide that." Then he gestured for me to come into sight and join them.  
>"Hiya, boys," I grinned, coming into view. "Anyone miss me?"<br>Calix looked faintly surprised, by my guess because he'd lied about my saying he could be trusted, but both Whisper and Sparky almost jumped on me to hug me as a welcome back.  
>"We thought the Black Guard had got ya," Whisper told me once they were finally pried off.<br>"They did. That's what I been busy with."  
>"Getting loose?"<br>"Nah, keeping to an agreement Tommy made with them. I got to see things like as if I were one of them. Fun, but not nearly as good as with you guys."  
>"She didn't make you..." Calix asked, then hesitated. Someone as young as he appeared to be shouldn't know anything about what he almost asked.<br>"That's between her and me," I replied. "Got a message for you by the way. One of the Oracle's messengers gave it to me. Said to tell you the twins still haven't forgiven you."  
>Calix looked chagrined, then muttered an excuse to wander off on his own. While he was away, Tommy quickly filled Sparky and Whisper in on our little subterfuge, and sent them off to the minibus so their replacements could take their places.<br>I also went to check on up on Calix, to see if he'd let anything slip.  
>"You alright?" I asked, joining him in the remains of another nearby store.<br>"Fine," he answered shortly.  
>"Look, sorry about the message, but that's what he said."<br>"Doesn't matter. Don't want to talk about it."  
>"Why not?"<br>"None of your business, that's why."  
>"We're in this together, Calix," I told him, deliberately overlooking that I knew he couldn't be trusted to try and get him to open up. "You might not be able to take the Code, but that doesn't mean we can't do something for you. But you've gotta let us."<br>"You can't do anything. Nothing that would make any difference."  
>"Who are the twins?"<br>"They're my son-" he caught himself, then continued, "My older brothers. They joined the Alliance to spite me because I didn't want to get myself involved in the same trouble at the time. It wasn't until later I realized my mistake, and then you found me."  
>I decided to take a chance, and extend a hand of friendship that probably none of the others would have.<br>"You don't have to keep up the charade, Calix. I know the truth."  
>"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," he replied uncertainly, looking suddenly very afraid.<br>"Latissa told us about a rumour. You're older than you look because you replaced your body, didn't you?" His guilty look confirmed it. "Don't worry, no one else knows," I lied. "I figured out the connection myself."  
>"You won't tell them, will you?"<br>"What for? It wouldn't do anyone any good. I just thought you'd like to talk to someone who knew, so you wouldn't have to act. Though, you weren't doing too well. You talk too much like an adult."  
>"I never could figure out how I was meant to sound," he admitted. "Every time I thought I had it, it just never seemed to come out right. I even listened to my sons – the twins – before they ran away from home to go with the Alliance, and I still couldn't get the knack of it."<br>"Why did you do it?"  
>"You mean this?" he gestured at himself. "It wasn't my idea. I was involved in a crash caused by someone from the Black Guard driving like a maniac that left me nearly completely paralysed. Akira told me he could make it so I could go around again, but it'd mean taking on a new life and a special mission for him."<br>"Infiltrating the Alliance."  
>"I was to try and find the Oracle he so hates, so he could finally be rid of the little brat. He didn't bother to tell me I'd have to be a kid again, he just left it so when I woke up I'd find out just by looking in the mirror."<br>"Ouch," I winced, imagining what that must have been like. "Bit of a shock."  
>"I'm told he heard me on the top floor of his tower, and I was five floors underground. You know what the worst thing is?" he asked. I just shook my head. "This entire body is cybernetic. Machines and computers, except for my brain kept somewhere inside it. And that means it'll never grow. It'll never get old. I'll keep on looking like this forever."<br>"Some would say that's a blessing," I pointed out. "Not everyone gets the chance to be an eternal child."  
>"Yeah, well, I don't want it. You people want nothing to do with me because I have to keep contact with the Corporate Confederation, because they're the ones that maintain the body, keep it in working order. So I don't have any friends, I don't have any help..."<br>"Would you mind a suggestion?"  
>"Go ahead. What harm can it do?"<br>"I know you don't like them, but go and see Latissa. Tell them I sent you if it gets you in to see her. She's the one who mentioned what you are, she'll understand a little. Get her to help you leave your old life behind and start a new one. Have her talk to Doctor Kildare, and see if he can take over your maintenance. Then you won't need the zombies any more."  
>"Sure I can trust her?"<br>"If you won't trust her, trust me. But we'd better get back – don't mention any of this to the others," I warned, then as a further precaution given our plan I added, "And try not to need to talk to me again. If we have to do this too often, people might get suspicious. I'll let you know if we can talk, but I think the first thing you should do is go and see Latissa."  
>I'd taken a considerable risk, and I had to hope that in sending him to Latissa, she'd be willing to work with what I'd planned for him, but at the very least it would allow him to make some amends. If he was going to be stuck a kid, the least I could do was see to it that he didn't have to be alone, and that meant arranging things so the Alliance would accept him.<br>Calix didn't take my suggestion immediately, evidently giving it some thought. This in turn made him even less attentive than normal, and it was clearly evident that he barely noticed anything at all, let alone anything out of the ordinary.  
>I quietly suggested to Tommy that he and I make our exchange together as well because of this, then on the way back I explained what I'd said and done. He listened, taking a slightly longer route because he didn't want to get to the minibus too quickly, and he didn't judge too quickly.<br>When I was done, he gave me a good look over, and asked, "Was that from you, or from Rocky?"  
>"What do you mean?"<br>"I'm just remembering what you said. Nobodies can't feel anything. Can't care about others. But what you've done for him says otherwise. Either you're not a Nobody, or having Rocky as another aspect of you has given you what you're missing. Why else would you help him out?"  
>"He deserved it. He didn't have any choice in the matter, and there's no way he could ever do what Akira wanted because the Alliance would never trust him. He deserved better than that, so maybe now he can work with the Alliance instead and at least be happier."<br>"What motivated you to take action, Roxas?"  
>"The message from the twins. He slipped slightly. The twins are his sons, and when I saw his reaction..."<br>"You felt sorry for him. You cared, Roxas. Do you see what I'm getting at?"  
>"Yeah, I think so."<br>Tommy shook his head with a sigh. "If it's any consolation, I think you did the right thing there. If he remembers to mention your name to Latissa, she'll help him no matter what they feel about each other. She'll do her best to honour your word to him."  
>"I didn't exactly give it, Tommy," I protested, but he shook his head again.<br>"You offered him a better life, Roxas. You gave him hope. I could see that when we left, even if I didn't know why. Those things are rare treasures, and she'll see that offer as the same thing as your word."  
>We walked on in silence for a time, until the minibus came into view, then I had to ask.<br>"Tommy, I don't know where you're thinking of going, but... Assault told me this morning if I needed advice, I should call on the Oracle. I'd... appreciate it if we could stop by and see him on the way to wherever."  
>"You're in luck. I was planning to take you to see him anyway. You drive, I'll give you directions." He paused, then, "Just where did you learn to drive, by the way?"<br>"It happened while I was with the Black Guard," I shrugged. "Latissa had me take part in a raid, and they were short a driver. I was given a basic crash course that was something like, 'wheel, accelerator, brakes, go' and that was it." I laughed, remembering Thrasher's reaction to my driving, then added, "Apparently I'm more of a terror on the roads than someone they call Old Tom is, and Latissa has to be really persuasive to get people to let him drive them anywhere."  
>"Are you sure you should be driving?" he asked me suspiciously.<br>"Hey, do you see anyone else around here that knows how to drive that thing?"  
>"It is a novelty not to have to walk everywhere, I'll admit, but... just don't let me get us into a chase with you at the wheel."<br>"What's the matter?" I grinned. "Afraid of a little speed?"  
>Tommy's response was not repeatable, but echoed some of Thrasher's own remarks on my driving. But hey, I got people where they had to be without any injuries, didn't I?<p> 


	24. Roxas's tale, part 19

While Tommy held his reservations about my driving, I did take care not to drive too recklessly. Since the Oracle resided within King City itself, and not within the combat zone, it was necessary for me to learn a few more rules of the road. Such as the actual speed limit, which side to drive on, and what some of the signs meant. It took part of the fun out of it, leaving me feeling like we were crawling along in comparison, but since there was no sign of pursuit I had to admit it allowed us to get around fairly quickly without too much trouble.  
>We headed west, or mostly west. Once in the general area of the docks, Tommy directed me to follow the dockside southwards until a rather unusual bridge came into view. Unusual in that the supports did not go into the water, but onto ships underneath. The far side of it appeared to lead to another city.<br>"There she is," Tommy told us. "The Sea Metropolis. The floating city the zombies made in order to have a place to live without us. Of course, since the residents were transplanted from the city, it failed entirely."  
>"I've never been there," Sparky said. "But I've heard of it. The most high-tech place in the world, I heard."<br>"I've been there once," Whisper murmured. "You wouldn't believe how depraved they are there. Even the Alliance isn't all that strong in that region. What's the Oracle doing there?"  
>"Trying to improve our situation there," Tommy replied. "At least, while she's still docked up here beside King City. Take us over the bridge and into the city, Rocky."<br>"Won't they try to stop us?" I asked, pointing at the toll gates barring our path."  
>"They can try, but the barriers are only made of wood. You can smash through them."<br>"Tommy, first you tell me you don't want me to drive recklessly, now you're telling me you do? Make up your mind already."  
>"Yeah, well, I hadn't expected it to be guarded this time. Normally they don't bother. Can you lose us on the other side?"<br>"Are you kidding me? Just watch and see what I've learned," I replied. I kept on driving normally until we were almost at the barriers, and the guards had come into view ready to inspect the vehicle. When they expected me to slow down for the inspection though, I hit the accelerator instead. The guards shot at us as we smashed through the barriers, but their shots missed entirely.  
>This wasn't the last of the obstacles they could put in our path though. As we headed onto the bridge sections, by some signal the two ships supporting each section started to move, in turn causing the bridge itself to separate. As the bridge was fairly wide, four lines to go in either direction with a central barrier to stop vehicles from straying onto the far side, it would take time for the sections to move apart to the point of being unusable. I kept to one side of the bridge until there was only one lane left still in line, then switched to the other. Now I was on alternating sections, the right side of one, the left of the next.<br>"We're not going to make it," Whisper called to me. "What're ya gonna do!"  
>"Of course we're going to make it!" I insisted. "Don't you trust me?"<br>"I trust you, but do you trust them who're moving the bridge?"  
>"Who cares about them? I've got this one," I told them confidently. I hoped I was right.<br>By the time we hit the last of the massive sections, they'd started to shift the bridge piece away from the Sea Metropolis. There was a raised road on the other side that should have led up to the bridge, but was instead starting to lower down.  
>"You have gotta be kidding me," Sparky breathed.<br>"Hold on!" I grinned back, fighting back a laugh as we left the last of the bridge. It seemed like for a moment the minibus would tip too far forward in the air, but then almost too seen we landed with a great crash that took all of us by surprise. I recovered quickly, breaking through the barrier on this side, then taking a left turn to head into the network of streets here on this floating city.  
>Tommy was next to recover, dabbing a bit of cloth at a small cut he'd gained on his forehead.<br>"Rocky, don't you ever do anything like that again!" he told me in a shaky voice. "That was stupidly reckless!"  
>"I know," I laughed. "Fun, wasn't it? Looks like we're in luck – the local authorities weren't expecting us to make it either. I reckon we should park up and abandon the vehicle. We'll be less conspicuous on foot."<br>"Sure you wanna leave this behind?" Sparky asked from the floor. "I mean after something like that, no one can fault your driving," he muttered sarcastically.  
>"Stop that and be ready to pile out," I told him, then pulled up in a side street.<br>"Next time, I take a cab," Tommy muttered, but got out with the rest of us. He glanced out both ends of the street, then started to guide us quickly away. "We have to hurry. The security here is a lot tighter than on the mainland."  
>"Sure you know where you're going?" Whisper asked. "It's changed a bit since I was here last."<br>"Yeah, well, I keep contact with a few people here. Look for a place named the Winter Wonderland. Big building, decorated with fake snow."  
>"What's it meant to be?" I asked him.<br>"A place where people who like winter can go to experience it," he replied. "The Oracle is hiding there because there aren't actually many people here on the Sea Metropolis that like winter."  
>"I guess that makes sense."<br>The Sea Metropolis is designed so that while inside there's no hint at all of where you are. It's so effective at that, I almost forgot where we were.  
>But it's not a city in the normal sense of the word. It rises up in a series of concentric rings, with each further ring outside raised up to the level of what would be the rooftops of the level before – rooftops that were in turn built on as the other side of that particular level.<br>This made getting around fairly easy since it was pretty predictable, but on the other hand since every street curves exactly the same amount, and the buildings on them have all been constructed similarly, you can also have absolutely no idea where you are in the slightest.  
>On some of the upper levels, there were footbridges that crossed from one side to the other, offering spectacular views of the city beneath. We ended up using one after Tommy realized we were on the wrong side of the city entirely.<br>One of the down-sides of those bridges is that the floor aside, they're completely open, so anyone can see you. As we got off the bridge, the local police converged on us from behind us on the bridge and either side of us with that familiar cry of, "Don't let them get away!"  
>We headed the only way they hadn't blocked off – straight ahead and up to the next ring.<br>"Don't split up," Tommy told us. "We don't have time to search for each other here."  
>"Tell me you've got a plan," I asked him.<br>"Of course I do. We're almost there. We can lose them in the Winter Wonderland."  
>"Oh, joy. Freezing and being chased at the same time. Just what I always wanted to do for fun."<br>The Winter Wonderland came up as we continued around that ring, but also heading for us were more of the police. It looked like it'd be close as we approached, but we got in first. Tommy quickly dragged us under one of the counters, ignoring the startled staff and guiding us through a trapdoor. A key on the wall nearby was quickly used to lock the trapdoor, then we were off into the service tunnels. The rattle of the door behind us told us they were on to us, an we didn't have long to get clear.  
>It was just as frigid underneath the Wonderland as it had been in the few moments up above, but these were the service tunnels for the air conditioning being used to cool above. A second access trapdoor was warily checked, letting a blast of even colder air and even some snow inside, then judged safe to go back up.<br>The Wonderland was meant to be some kind of a forest with a frozen river, with the visibility masked by the snow.  
>"They're up here," Tommy whispered once we were all up. "If you pay attention, you can see them between the trees. Try not to make any noise."<br>"I love this place," Whisper whispered. "It was made for me. White on white. You shouldn't have any trouble either, Rocky."  
>"Excuse me? You got me the green pants, remember?" I told him. "How's that blending in?"<br>"Just keep low."  
>"Stop that!" Tommy whispered loudly. "It doesn't matter how we get there, together or one by one, but aim for the fake cave on the far side."<br>"Which far side, boss?" Sparky asked. "And which way."  
>"That way," he said, giving a vague gesture off to one side.<br>"Race you!" I said, then before they had a chance, I headed off in the general direction he'd pointed. It took me a few moments to figure out how to mask the scrunching the snow underfoot along the way, and it seemed like there was no one there. Once or twice I caught sight of uniformed policemen, but most of them didn't see me.  
>After a while, it got a bit boring without a challenge, so I decided to deliberately make things harder for myself. I sneaked up behind one of the policemen, then stole his ID, wallet, cuffs, baton and tazer, leaving him his own gun in part because I still didn't like the idea of them, but also because I was betting he wouldn't risk shooting it in here with limited visibility.<br>Then to add insult to what I'd done to him, I took a step back and suppressing the urge to laugh again, I literally kicked his ass.  
>"Catch me if you can," I grinned at him when he got back up, then I was off again. I'd kept my bearings during that so I knew which way I had to go, but I deliberately took a different route to find the frozen river. I'd crossed it twice before, once falling over and slipping on it, but the second time I just skated across on the flat of my sneakers. Harder than it sounds as they're not made for that, but I've got a good sense of balance.<br>On the other hand, the officer trying to pursue me did not have such a good sense of balance, and fell flat on his face once we hit the ice. He reached for his tazer, only to realize it wasn't there.  
>"Looking for something?" I called before I went out of sight, holding it up.<br>"Give that back, you little rascal!" he shouted after me. Did he really expect me to?  
>I made used of that frozen river to get as close as I could to the cave Tommy had pointed us toward, then I was forced to go back onto the snowy ground instead. I didn't have far to go before I met someone who looked about the same age as me. Like Whisper, he wore all white, and even went with white hair. Natural, as I later discovered, due to a recessive... eh, I don't remember exactly. It was technical sounding.<br>"Hello, Roxas," the Oracle greeted me. "I've been expecting you."


	25. Roxas's tale, part 20

The Oracle was not what I expected. True, from what I'd heard of him so far I knew he was young like the rest of us, but I hadn't expected him to look so... well, normal. To look at him without knowing who he was, you'd never have any idea.  
>"Come, the cave is much warmer," he told me. "The others will be along soon, but we can make use of the wait to discuss things." He gave me a glance and added, "Don't be too concerned. Just ask."<br>But with all the possibilities I could have asked him, I had no idea where to begin. I just picked at random.  
>"What'll happen to Calix?" I asked.<br>"Ah yes, the adult with a second and somewhat more permanent childhood. Though he still fears the Black Guard, since they returned you to Tommy unharmed his opinion of them has improved. He was last seen using your name to get past their members and into the protection of Latissa, who even now is guiding him along the way to turning on his previous allies. I'm expecting to hear from the good doctor Kildare when she asks him if he can take care of him, since he probably won't be too certain if he can handle it. Hows your shoulder, by the way?"  
>"Healed now," I replied, startled by just how much he seemed to know. How did he do it? "Still a little tender in places, but it'll pass."<br>He led us into what appeared at first glance to be a home constructed entirely from ice, but was warm to the touch. Evidently it wasn't really ice but something mimicking it perfectly.  
>"Of course. Kildare is probably the best medic in the entire city. Both here and King City itself. I've had to put myself in his hands a couple of times before. Corporate Security has been trying to get their hands on me for ages, but so far they've failed to do any more than cause a few minor injuries. To tell you the truth, I'd rather they actually tried a bit harder. They're not even challenging any more."<br>"Think you'll ever finally catch Akira?"  
>"I certainly hope so," he answered with a certain edge to his tone. "I've got an entire family to avenge, let alone many of the Alliance who've ended up in harms way because of me. There's a lot of payback I have to deal out on him. It's a shame I can only kill him the once. Don't concern yourself with him though – while your friend currently remains in his custody and even believes what he has been told of your friends so far, he will not stay so beyond tomorrow."<br>"About him... is he going to..."  
>"Find you? Not himself. Your friend Xion will arrive tomorrow afternoon, sent here by Xemnas as she, like you, is young enough to gain more from the Alliance. She will in turn lead him to your gang, but neither of them will find you unless you let them."<br>"What do you mean by that?"  
>"Tommy told you to act – and you have. Rocky has done things that Roxas never would. True, he may not have liked all of those things, such as the unfortunate officer that lost his life, but they happened nevertheless, and they were not the kind of things you would have done had you continued to be yourself. Nearly everyone you have encountered here has met you first as Rocky, and only a small number later as Roxas. Likewise, they will first find you as Rocky, and will only find Roxas too if you decide to show yourself to them, and not only show them Rocky."<br>"Assault... when he came to see me earlier, he said if I needed advice..."  
>"He said that you could come to me, and here you are. Ask away."<br>"Should I tell them?" It had been almost blurted out. "Should I let them find me and tell them what I've done?"  
>"Your questions rely on the answers to other questions, Roxas. Telling them depends on if you let them find you, and that in turn depends on where you want to go. Remain here, or go back to the Organization."<br>"Yeah, but... what do you think?"  
>The Oracle leaned back in his fake-ice chair, closing his eyes. While I waited I realized he must have at least some ability to see beyond the here and now, otherwise how would he have known about the Organization, and Xion's impending arrival? If the Organization ever got wind of that, they'd undoubtedly want to turn him into a Nobody to take full advantage of it.<br>"You ought to leave, Roxas," he told me at last. "You are one half of another, and neither you or he can be complete without each other. If you remain here, you deprive him of half of what he is, half of what he needs to complete his own tasks. You'll undoubtedly enjoy it here if you stayed, but both you and he have important things in your future that lie away from here."  
>"I guess that means I've got to let them find me then, and tell them what I've done."<br>"Find you, yes. But tell them... that remains up to you. But know this, Roxas – your concerns about Axel are not unfounded. Akira's right-hand man, Tamayana, has told him what you might call horror stories about the Alliance and what they may have done. He will not likely receive the revelations well, but be patient – time will heal any rift between you. For a Nobody, he has a knack for being able to care that even I can't see the cause of."  
>Now I had to ask – he knew about the Organization and Nobodies, but unless someone else had stopped by to talk to him I couldn't see any possible way how he could have found out.<br>"Just how do you know these things, Oracle?" I asked him. "Do you really see, or is there some trick to it?"  
>"Do you know, you're the first to actually ask me directly?" he said with a faint smile. "To answer your question... I prefer not to go into too much detail, but theoretically, anyone could take my place as the Oracle. But only one such as you or I could make such wide-ranging use of it."<br>"You're not a Nobody," I said, thinking on this. "We'd know." He just nodded. "So that means... you're not from this world either, are you?"  
>"Partly right. I originated from this world, but I've left it and seen others. Don't tell anyone else though – I believe I'm the only one of the locals that even knows there are other worlds out there. I'd also advise you to keep to your original mission restrictions – don't use a dark corridor anywhere anyone would see."<br>"I can't really use one anyway. I sort of... lost my coat."  
>"I know. Axel can retrieve it for you, provided neither Akira or Tamayana think he's working in league with you. They'll likely keep it for themselves and try to use it as bait to lure you or him in. If that happens, I'll come up with a plan to retrieve it for you."<br>"Why not just have Axel use a corridor of his own-" I started, but he held up a hand to stop me.  
>"We don't know for certain if they're watching his residence inside Akira's tower. If they learn about the dark corridors... to say the least, it would become a serious problem for the Alliance if they begin to control them, let alone the other consequences."<br>"I guess I didn't think of that," I admitted.  
>"In my place, you kind of have to. The entire Alliance looks up to me. It encourages me to take care to think of everything." Then he raised his voice slightly and added, "Come, join us. Rocky and I are done."<br>There were still questions I wanted to ask him, but clearly he'd decided enough was enough. I wasn't going to push him for more; he probably decided it was safer this way. With the Alliance in his hands, they'd probably achieved a great deal more than they would have otherwise, and undoubtedly would continue to do so.  
>The Oracle took each of the others aside to answer a few questions for them too, then together he let them know about Axel and Xion arriving tomorrow, though he mentioned Xion simply as another friend of mine. After that gave us precise directions to get us down to one of the docks on the outside of the Sea Metropolis, one of the very few docks, and also the entire Metropolis, that was entirely under the control of the Alliance.<br>I'd expected there to be at least some kind of pursuit on the way back, but it was disappointingly quiet on the way back. Speedboats aren't my favourite kind of transport though. Other ships maybe, but those things just make me ill.  
>Once back on dry land, we were on our own again.<br>"What now, boss?" Whisper asked.  
>"Chinatown," he replied. "The western part of it this time – no doubt the Tea Shack is being watched. No, this time we want our original place there – the take away named after us."<br>"Headquarters," Sparky told me. "We don't go there often 'cause they know it's one of our places, but they don't watch it. They always check it when they want to find us, so if your mates are looking for us like what the Oracle tells us..."  
>"Then if they learn that too, that's where they'll come," I finished.<br>"It's also where the Oracle will direct them, if they manage to find their way to him," Tommy added. "Sparky, the sign needs fixing up. I want you to see to it. Whisper, find me Assault. I need to borrow him off the Oracle again."  
>"Adam again?" Whisper asked. "What for this time?"<br>"Something I discussed with the Oracle. We can work without him, but what I've got in mind will go better if he's with us. If he's busy, tell him we need him as soon as possible, tomorrow at the latest."  
>"Some deadline," he snorted, then he and Sparky both left.<br>"What about me?" I asked him. "I know the place you mean."  
>"I know. I also know you've still got a police ID card you stole back in the Winter Wonderland. It should work here in King City too. I've got a special task for you that uses it, if you think you're up to it."<br>I folded my arms and said, "Wanna try saying that again, boss?"  
>Tommy chuckled, shaking his head. "I should have known. Alright, listen up, because this isn't simple. Two blocks south of Corporate Plaza is the police HQ for King City, and one further down is the back entrance. Use the ID to get in through that door, then find your way to the server rooms. You'll know the place when you see it, there's racks of stuff all hooked up by cables, and it'll be a bit cold in there."<br>"As if once wasn't bad enough," I complained. "What do I do in there, rip out all the cables?"  
>"Close. You'll only have a limited time once you start, so act quickly." He handed me a pair of insulated scissors. "Only go for the power cables, and make sure you cut them right through. As soon as they notice, get out of there – you can hide if you want, but the Oracle reckons you're better off running."<br>"And doing this does what, exactly?"  
>"With any luck, it'll knock out their entire computer systems. Since all the branch offices around the city store and access the data in that room, even a few of them going down is going to seriously affect them, and that'll give the Alliance time to strike. The Oracle's already putting out word that they're going to be temporarily crippled so we can take full advantage of it."<br>"You two put a lot of thought into this. Alright, I'll do it. I'll meet you up at our own HQ."


	26. Roxas's tale, part 21

I knew this would probably be the last thing I'd do for the gang before the time came for me to leave, so I was even more determined to succeed at it. I'd already made my way into the stories told by the Black Guard, now I had the chance to do the same for my real gang here.  
>Getting up to the police headquarters wasn't much of a problem. I figured since I was doing illegal stuff anyway, what was a bit more just to add a little more risk to this venture? So when I spotted a patrol car parked up, the officers busily arresting some young girl who'd ended up getting caught, I caught her attention to silently signal for her to cause a distraction, then used that to hide in the back of the car. Fortunately the one I'd spotted not only had a rear door instead of a basic trunk, it was also conveniently missing the bars that normally protect the officers from whatever criminals they've got hidden in the back.<br>The girl's outburst died down once she'd seen I was well hidden and they put her in the back seat of the car. I took care to flatten myself against the back of those seats so they wouldn't notice me, then breathed easier when they both got in the front.  
>"Thanks for the distraction," I whispered to the girl just before they got in.<br>"Don't mention it," she replied, but said no more.  
>"Better call her in," one officer told the others. "Otherwise we'll be waiting an age for them to find a space."<br>The other grunted as the car roared into life and set off.  
>"Too much trouble," the other said eventually. "Besides – means we get paid to stand around. Can't stand having to do work if I don't have to."<br>"You'd rather let those juvies run riot?" the first asked him.  
>"Get real," he snorted. "They're sending us out in teams of two. What're we meant to do? Arrest 'em one at a time? Like that's going to make a difference. Leave it up to the fat cats to do it for us, and let us get paid to do nothing."<br>"If the public heard you talking like that there'd be another PR nightmare."  
>"What d'ya mean another one? This entire riot is a nightmare! Kids, for god's sake! Why don't the little brats just do as they're told, stay in school and behave themselves."<br>"Because you're wrecking everything," the girl told them snidely.  
>"Oh, go cry me a river. You don't know the first thing about what we're doing or why."<br>"The Alliance knows more than you think. Did ya know the head of the biotech corporation is having an affair with Akira?"  
>"Are you kidding me?" the first cop exclaimed. "Akira! He never even leaves his tower! How'd he get in with that chick?"<br>"Doesn't your own gossip tell you these things?" she asked in mock disbelief. "And there you were telling me you knew more than us."  
>"Don't get smart with me, missy," he replied. I chanced a glance up into sight to see where we were, then ducked back down again. We were heading the right way, at least. I toyed with the idea of getting rid of the two coppers and taking the patrol car out for a spin, but they had the keys to the girl's cuffs, and with any luck I'd be able to cause enough disruption to allow her to make her own escape as soon as they uncuffed her.<br>Almost before I knew it we'd arrived, though at the front of the HQ building instead of the back. At least it wasn't far to reach the back entrance. Once again I flattened myself out of sight as they hauled the girl out of the car, locking it behind them. I waited for a few minutes, then climbed over the back of the seats and then again into the front seats to rummage through the glove compartment.  
>That turned up another two ID's, a bank card, and an interesting little canister that looked like a mini-fire extinguisher. The label on it said it would instantly freeze any surface, which sounded like it could be very useful, so I nicked it, unlocked the car from the inside, then set about getting to the back of the building.<br>As luck would have it, they'd parked not far from the corner of the block, so it only took me a few minutes to get around the corner, and a few more to reach the back of the building. I received a number of suspicious looks from passers by, but reasoned that the only time they probably saw we kids wandering around freely was just after we'd been set loose for whatever reason, so they assumed the same of me.  
>I took out the original ID card I'd stolen back on the Sea Metropolis when I reached the door and slotted it through the card scanner beside it. It also asked for a pin code, so I examined the card and found only one code on it. Surely it couldn't be the pin code?<br>It was. The officer I'd stolen this from was evidently lax about his security.  
>Now I was in, and I had to exercise caution – one sighting of me and the whole scheme would be blown. I quickly navigated the corridors, passing offices and cubicles until I found my way into some back corridors, used mostly for servicing the air conditioning and such, where fewer people went. I still had to find my way to the server room though. How was I going to find that?<br>It turned out to be ridiculously simple. A conversation I heard in passing told me that consultants often got lost here at HQ, so they'd created pamphlets with a map of the facilities that weren't meant to fall into just anyone's hands, stored in the visitor's reception and the break room.  
>The break room was easier to find – all I had to do was listen for the sounds of eating and drinking. Luck was with me yet again when I found it, as everyone was busy watching something on a huge flat screen TV, allowing me to sneak in, retrieve the pamphlet and sneak out with no one the wiser, then retreat back out of sight to examine it.<br>I wasn't far from it. I traced a route that would lead me right to it in three corridors, only one of which held any risk of getting seen, then figured out a second route to get me out, ensuring I had it memorized. Left turn out of the server room, right at the forensics department, left at the morgue, then straight on to the exit. Having that memorized turned out to be very useful.  
>With my route in mind, I stowed the pamphlet away – no doubt the Alliance would find it useful – then set off on the way, pausing warily when I came close to the corridor that was totally open, with so many offices on either side that could easily be seen out of. This would be the riskiest part by far, I had to duck under windows and hope no one turned down the corridor to see me.<br>Only one person did, but I managed to avoid getting seen by getting underneath one of those mobile hospital beds that had been left in the corridor, the cloth covering it draped down to the floor. Someone really did like me today, everything was going in my favour, but I remained cautious all the same. Overconfidence has been the downfall of more than a few Alliance members.  
>I peeked out after the footsteps passed to ensure it was clear, then quickly hurried on and back into the safety of another service corridor that lead me directly to the door of the server room. Like the back entrance it was locked with a card scanner and a pin code, but this time the one I'd stolen didn't gain me entry.<br>I had to hope that this wouldn't trigger some kind of alarm, so quickly found out the two I'd stolen from the patrol car, scanning one and entering a similar code found on it. That got me entry, so I slipped in, closing the door as quietly as I could in the chill air.  
>Tommy hadn't been wrong. Rack upon rack of technical stuff that I just didn't understand. I squeezed in behind them so I wouldn't be seen by anyone looking in from outside, found a power cable and then followed it to find the source. When I found it I almost burst out laughing right there and then. Would you believe the whole lot was all on a series of extension cables, each with five sockets? They all ended up going to one single power source. They were practically setting themselves up for something like this!<br>I had to be certain they wouldn't just plug things back in though, so I systematically cut all of the power cables plugged into the three extensions that were right beside the wall socket, then cut the one that went into the wall itself. The room's whirring and humming died down almost immediately.  
>There wasn't going to be long before someone noticed this, so as soon as I'd cut the last cable I started squeezing my way back toward the door again. I heard shouts of alarm and the door open, so paused behind one rack to watch a small crowd charge in, leaving the door open. I noticed it couldn't be opened from the inside, so I slammed it shut as I sneaked back out into the station proper. Alright, so it wasn't nice, but this was the fun part – causing as much mayhem as possible while still getting out in one piece.<br>I'd remembered my route well so started to follow it as soon as I was out. I thought I was home free by the time I reached forensics, but I was wrong; one officer spotted me and gave chase. Well, I had come up with a contingency plan for this, and instead of taking a left at the morgue I ran on in.  
>I had a good few minutes to come up with something before he came in, so took a quick stock – the morgue was effectively a series of freezers with a few trolleys of tools they use to examine the dead and a load of mobile hospital beds being wheeled in and out. These freezers were deep ones; you could put three of those beds in along the back and still have room for another two rows of three before it'd be full.<br>Each of the freezers had signs on it that listed names, presumably the dead occupants, so I picked one of the ones that only had two names on, yanked it open, then hid in the lower compartment of a tool trolley, just in time.  
>"I know you're in here, kid," the officer told me. "There's only one door. You're trapped now."<br>"That's what you think," I breathed. "Go on – get curious."  
>I was watching his movements, careful not to expose myself when he turned the corner to come down the row of freezers I was concealed on. He noticed the opened freezer door.<br>"Bad place to hide, and way too predictable," he chuckled, pulling out a torch with one hand, and the baton with the other. He shone the torch into the open freezer, then seeing nothing went, "Huh?"  
>I scrambled quickly out from my cover and shoved him hard, sending him stumbling into the freezer.<br>"Who's predictable now?" I smirked at him, already closing the door on him. Like the server room, those freezers can't be opened from the outside. The cold wouldn't hurt him, but he'd be very uncomfortable.  
>With him out of the way I had a clear run straight back to the back door I'd come in by, and with all the commotion inside I even managed to get back around to the front and steal a patrol car that had been left with the engine running when whoever had been in it before me had gone inside.<br>I knew I couldn't take it all the way to our own HQ, but I could take it most of the way, and with the police sirens going I was able to ignore every road rule in the book and take that patrol car to speeds it probably never saw even with the police at the wheel.


	27. Epilogue

"You know the rest, pretty much," Roxas concluded. "Assault pretended to be one of us named Andy for the boss's plan when you got here, but it turned out to be unnecessary. I made sure they all knew Xion could be trusted, then when she found her way to us she sent word to you to come on down and find me."  
>"For just one week here, you've been really busy," Axel noted. "Loads more than I did here."<br>"Yeah, well, you let the wrong people do all the searching for me, and believed the wrong kind of things."  
>"So are you coming back with us then?" Xion asked. "I mean after what the Oracle told you..."<br>"First thing's first, I want my coat back before I'm going anywhere near a dark corridor. If I try and go through without one, it'll only end badly."  
>"Problem is, if I go back to get it, what's gonna be waiting for me?" Axel pointed out. "After that Inspector of yours showed up back at your HQ, I doubt they'll just let me walk in and take it."<br>"Use a dark corridor," Xion suggested. "I know the Oracle said not to, but you can't learn how to create them just by seeing someone do it. The only way there's going to be any trouble is if they've got people waiting for you there."  
>"Hey, Whisper," Roxas said suddenly. "You know that little thing you used when you'n I were up on the roof of the Tea Shack? The one what stunned all them zombies? Got any more of 'em on you?"<br>"Sure thing," Whisper nodded, "But they're not gonna do you any good if you're there too, and in a confined space like a room..."  
>"I got just the trick. Axel doesn't exit the other end of his corridor right away, he just chucks that through and waits. It'll go off, and if it doesn't knock out anyone in there, it'll blind them temporarily, and they'll probably not be hearing too straight either, so he can just go in, pick 'em up and get out without anyone the wiser."<br>Whisper took out a small grey sphere. "Twist the top half to activate it," he told Axel. "Half turn for about five seconds, and another five for every half turn after that. Don't think you'll need more'n five though."  
>"I almost can't believe I'm about to do this," Axel muttered, taking it off him.<br>"Hey, Axel," Roxas grinned. "Just remember – you gotta have fun if you're gonna do it like what we do!"  
>Axel chuckled to himself, getting to his feet. "Well, here goes trouble," he said, opening a corridor.<br>"You know, I'm gonna miss being here and everything," Roxas told Tommy. "But I kinda missed seeing Axel and Xion in the mornings, even if we weren't working together on a mission."  
>"I guess if I were in your place, it'd be the same for me," Tommy agreed. "But stop by from time to time when you get the chance. Come cause trouble with us again. You know you'll always be welcome."<br>Someone knocked at the door to their hidden back room. Rue immediately scrambled to his feet to find out who it was, holding a hushed conversation, then he turned back to them.  
>"Can we borrow Whisper for a few moments, Tommy?" he asked. "Only there's a door we've found that we can't open, and we'd like to know what's on the other side – just in case it's some kind of trap set for us by the zombies."<br>"Hey, mind if I come along too?" Roxas asked. "I got taught how to pick locks, but I never got the chance to try."  
>"What about Axel?" Xion said.<br>"Just tell him I'll be back in a few minutes," he replied. "After all, what could possibly go wrong?"  
>"Oh great," Rue muttered. "Now you've jinxed it for sure."<br>Roxas shrugged, Whisper joining him as they followed Rue and his friend back out into the fitness center and down into the basement. The door was set into the back wall, a tall wooden arch shape with the emblem of a heart on it, a keyhole in the center of the door below.  
>"Maybe you'd better have a look at this one first," Roxas suggested. "If you think I can do it, I'll give it a go, and if you think neither of us can do it... I'll give it a go anyway."<br>Whisper gave him a curious look, but moved to examine the lock anyway, pulling out a small torch to see inside. He frowned for a moment, pulling out a long thin bit of metal to prod around inside the lock, then shook his head.  
>"There's nothing in there," he proclaimed. "Nothing to lock or unlock it. All I can hear is-"<br>"A faint thump-thump on the other side?" Roxas suggested.  
>"How did you know?"<br>"I'm probably not meant to tell you. Something important, that's for sure, and I don't think it's a door that anyone should open. But I can seal it away so no one will try to get to it."  
>"But what's on the other side?"<br>Roxas thought for a moment, then said, "When you look up at the stars, what do you see? Other worlds, or just specks of light?"  
>"Everyone dreams about other worlds out there," Rue told him. "What does that have to do with it?"<br>"Assume for a moment that there were other worlds, and that every world had a heart of it's own – you wouldn't want anything to happen to that heart any more than your own, would you?"  
>"Are you saying that on the other side of this door is the heart of our world?" Whisper asked incredulously. "Roxas, that's completely absurd."<br>"Maybe. But I remember something from before I was a Nobody. He used to go around finding doors just like this one that had the hearts of worlds behind them, sealing them so no one could damage them."  
>"Roxas is right," another voice said, coming down the stairs behind them.<br>"Oracle!" Rue breathed. "What are you doing here?"  
>"Just checking up. I see you took my advice," he said to Roxas. "I knew if I told you not to use a corridor, Xion would suggest it anyway. Axel returned just a few moments ago."<br>"Did he..." Roxas trailed off.  
>The Oracle nodded. "I answered a few questions that were weighing on him. What he and I discussed stays between us though. Now, you know what you have to do," he said, nodding toward the door. "Don't worry about explanations – leave that to me. Once you've done it, you ought to go back home with your friends.<br>Roxas nodded, summoning his Keyblade into his hand for the first and only time in this world, surprising everyone. He pointed it to the lock, causing a beam of light to shoot into the lock, which in turn clicked, the lock and door itself vanishing to return to a blank wall. The expressions of the others present were awed.  
>Roxas gave them a wink as he dismissed the Keyblade again, then headed back upstairs to go home again.<br>It had been nearly a week since Roxas's return to the Organization. A single, incredibly dull and repetitive week of defeating Heartless with Axel to make sure he didn't try to sneak back off to King City again. They'd gone back to their usual routine of working, then having ice cream before heading back to the castle.

"Hey, Roxas?" Axel asked. "Ever wish you could have stayed back there in King City?"  
>"Sure thing," Roxas replied, taking a bite of his ice cream. "But I figure the Oracle must have had a good reason to tell me to come back to this. Sure, it's not as interesting. Kinda boring in comparison. But at least I'll know I've done the right thing."<br>"Are you even sure about that?"  
>"Maybe not yet. But I will be. I don't pretend to understand his reasoning, but that'll come in time. I just gotta wait and find out." There was a quiet moment, then, "Still think I was doing the wrong things while I was there?"<br>"I'm not saying any of it was right. You can't tell me there wasn't some of it that you shouldn't have done."  
>"Only because everyone thinks of them as crimes. You heard it from me and Tommy – whatever it takes to survive and keep on fighting against the zombies. They're not going to give the Alliance what they need, or agree to sit around a table and negotiate terms with kids, so they do it they only way they know how."<br>"True, but... no, I think you did the right thing, going with them. They're not as bad as I thought once I heard things from their side. I kinda envy you – you got to have an entire adventure to yourself there."  
>"Maybe if you were a little younger, huh?"<br>"I remember what I was like as a kid," Axel chuckled. "I went around pestering everyone so they'd always remember me. I figured that even if I went off someplace, I could live forever in everyone's memories. It's funny... I'm sure I saw a kid just like you once. In fact..." he frowned, glancing at Roxas. "I dunno why I didn't see it before."  
>"See what?"<br>"You look almost exactly like him, Roxas. I had a mock fight with him so he wouldn't forget me. Saïx was there watching too... Isa, he was called back then. We were friends, but when I lost out to that kid he made a few comments at my expense, but it was just friendly like."  
>"What was his name?"<br>"Ventus, I think. I got reminded of it when Tommy was telling us about all your names."  
>"You mean the Ven he mentioned, who's real name was Rocky," Roxas nodded.<br>"That's him. I wonder if he could be the same one? I mean, he did say you looked like Ven... and you do look like the Ventus I remember seeing."  
>"I wonder... if they're the same Ven, and they're somehow related to me... maybe I used to be Ventus once."<br>"Well, we'll never know sitting around here. These ice creams won't eat themselves, you know."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **And here we reach the end of this tale. Just goes to show how much difference one week can make if you're on different sides like that.  
>It was tempting to have Roxas stick around there instead, but then what'd happen to Sora? But maybe sometime another character might stop by King City and we'll see another escapade there.<br>As to Ventus... well, I leave it up to you to wonder what the chances of that coincidence are, or if they really are the same Ven.


End file.
